Aspides mission chief preparing for any deterioration in Red Sea

Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, the Greek operation commander of the European naval mission Aspides, designed to protect ships sailing through the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, said on Monday that “we are also preparing for any deterioration of the situation in the region.” 

Gryparis said during a press conference with European Union High Representative Josep Borrell in Brussels that Aspides operates in an area that is “twice as big as the land mass of our 27 member-states.” 

He stressed that given the available resources and the size of the operation, and the mandate for immediate protection action, the priority is to focus on the high-risk area. 

The defensive mandate of the operation is maintained, he said, and any response is always a consequence of an attack and is necessary, proportionate and limited to international waters and airspace. 

What’s more, he noted that so far all protected vessels have been successfully secured from attack and all vessels requesting escorts have been protected. 

In the seven weeks since the operation was launched, Aspides has, according to Borrell, escorted 68 vessels and repelled 11 attacks.