President Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that Sri Lanka will provide a Navy vessel to fight attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea, joining countries like India in protecting the key waterway for global trade.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched more than 20 attacks on merchant ships in recent weeks, claiming to take revenge against Israel for its military campaign against Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza. These attacks have sharply raised goods costs between Asia and Europe.

Addressing an award ceremony here on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe, who holds the defence ministry portfolio, noted that merchant shipping was hit by Houthi attacks at the Red Sea and said if the ships were to be diverted and re-routed around South Africa, the voyages would become much more expensive.

This could create (an) escalation of the cost of goods. "So we have agreed to send a Naval vessel to combat Houthi attacks in the Red Sea,” he said.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, are currently in solidarity with Palestine because of the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

The Houthi attacks centred on the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb southern chokepoint have disrupted shipping in a waterway that carries about 12 per cent of global trade, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.

The rebel group will continue their attacks until more aid enters the Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with the ruling Hamas terror group following its devastating October 7 attack that killed over 1,200 people in Israel, the report said.

Last month, an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker was among two vessels that came under drone attacks by the Houthi rebels in the Southern Red Sea, according to the US Central Command.

Indian Navy on Wednesday said its ships and aircraft remain "mission deployed" for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.

In the last one week, Indian Naval Task Groups deployed in the area have investigated a large number of fishing vessels and boarded vessels of interest, it said.

The US Central Command said in a statement that on December 23, two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. No ships reported being impacted by the ballistic missiles.

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