German warships avoid Red Sea due to 'very high threat' level

Germany's defense ministry said Wednesday that two German naval ships would have to detour through Africa due to a "very high threat level" in the Red Sea, where the situation has become unstable due to attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"Minister Boris Pistorius has decided that the return" of a frigate and a supply ship from India "will be via the African coast," the long-distance alternative to the Red Sea, ministry spokesman Colonel Mitko Moller said at a regular government news conference.

The colonel added that this decision was taken due to the "very high level of threat" in the Red Sea, in an implicit reference to the Houthi rebels.

"We have seen in recent days, weeks and months that they are capable of carrying out very sophisticated attacks," particularly with tactical ballistic missiles and drones, he said. But unlike other German warships, the two ships "are not designed to carry out air defence operations," he added.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for attacks on three ships off the coast of Yemen on Monday. Backed by Iran, the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have been launching missile and drone attacks since November 2023 on ships they consider to be linked to Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians.

After circumnavigating Africa, the frigate Baden-Württemberg will sail to the Mediterranean where it will carry out a mission for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Mitko Müller said. The supply ship Frankfurt will continue on to Germany where it is "expected to arrive in early December."

The two ships have been deployed in the Indo-Pacific region since May as part of international cooperation exercises and missions. Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the crew of the two ships docked in Goa on India's west coast on Saturday during his visit to India.

The attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have severely disrupted shipping in this vital global trade area. In response, the United States has formed an international maritime coalition and has been carrying out strikes against the Houthis in Yemen since January, sometimes with the help of the United Kingdom.

(AFP, DPA)