Germany and Iran withdraw their ships from the Red Sea
For different reasons, two countries affected by the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, from different points of view, have withdrawn their naval assets from the area.
A frigate of the German Federal Navy , with a crew of 240 on board, completed the mission on Saturday morning and left the Red Sea area of operations, the Bundeswehr said.
The Hesse frigate was part of the European Union's Aspides naval defense mission and was deployed in the Red Sea in February to protect merchant ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants, who support the Palestinians and were therefore attacking in reaction to the war in the Strip.
The German ship had the function of protecting the commercial shipping that traveled that stretch of the Red Sea where Houthi attacks are frequent.
The Hessen's crew repeatedly shot down drones launched by militants in the German Navy's first such mission.
The ship was deployed on February 23 after a series of attacks on merchant ships. Major shipping companies have started avoiding the Red Sea, part of the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe, impacting the global economy.
The German Ministry of Defense said the ship safely escorted 27 merchant ships through the area of operation.
In four cases, Houthi drones and missiles were successfully countered, the ministry said. In total, the frigate covered more than 11,000 kilometers in the area of operation.
The crew provided medical first aid on two occasions, to a soldier from a partner nation and to a crew member from a merchant ship.
The 143-meter frigate is equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and was designed for maritime escort and surveillance, with a radar capable of monitoring an airspace as large as the North Sea, according to the Bundeswehr. In reality there were some operational problems and the German frigate almost shot down an American drone, which survived only because the missiles misfired.
The Italian ship Beshad
Iran also withdraws its ship
An Iranian cargo ship, suspected of providing information and intelligence to the Houthis for their attacks in the Red Sea, also appears to have returned home this week.
The return of the MV Behshad to Iran occurred as the country prepared to suffer the Risaelian attack. The ship has often been accused of being a sort of spy ship for the Tehran government.
The vessel has been at sea for almost three years and spent several months near Yemen earlier this year. But it was seen sailing in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Iran on Wednesday and passed through the strategic Channel of Hormuz early Thursday, according to ship tracking data reviewed by Business Insider.
The Behshad's destination is listed as the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on MarineTraffic.com, and the latest tracking data from Thursday afternoon local time shows the vessel is in the vicinity of the city.
It is not clear why the ship was withdrawn, whether for rotation or to avoid contact with ships linked to Israel.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/germania-e-iran-ritirano-le-propre-navi-dal-mar-rosso/ on Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:20:46 +0000.