Italy will deploy warships to guarantee safe passage for its commercial vessels through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a move aimed at preventing significant economic disruption if the waterway becomes impassable. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Rome would act without waiting for a collective European Union decision, arguing the country “has the capabilities to protect the passage.”
The strait links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, forming a critical corridor for container traffic, oil and gas bound for the Suez Canal and markets in Europe and Asia. Historically, roughly 12 to 15 percent of global trade has moved through the narrow channel, which separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea and is about 30km 19 miles wide at its narrowest point.
The Italian announcement comes after a rapid Houthi offensive that captured Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, a development that gave the Iran-backed group effectively unrestricted access to the waterway. That access is significant because the Houthis have previously targeted vessels they associate with the United States and its allies, raising the risk to merchant shipping in the corridor.
Bab al-Mandeb’s importance has increased since Iran established de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year amid its war with the United States and Israel. That shift diverted much Gulf crude away from Hormuz and magnified the role of alternative routes. Saudi Arabia has leaned more heavily on pipelines and Red Sea shipping to move oil, making the Bab al-Mandeb one of the last major arteries for Gulf exports to reach global markets.
Crosetto criticised procedural delays at the EU level, saying Rome “must not allow bureaucratic delays in decision-making to exacerbate an already complex situation.” The United States and the European Union have already mounted operations to protect merchant ships in the area, but those efforts have so far struggled to secure the route fully as fighting in Yemen intensifies.
Italy’s decision will increase naval patrols in the southern Red Sea and mark a unilateral European military response to the deteriorating security picture around Bab al-Mandeb. For now, Rome has framed the deployment as a protective measure for its shipping lines while warning that the broader economic consequences of a blocked strait would be severe.
