Denmark, home to shipping company Maersk, on Monday 29 January 2024 sent off the 139-metre Iver Huitfeldt frigate to participate in the U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants. The Houthi militants have since 19 November fired missiles at all ships trying to get through the Red Sea to reach the Suez canal.
Danish shipping companies annually send about 2,500 ships through the Red Sea, a route that accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic. Since December hundreds of Danish vessels have been diverted to go around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a journey that takes 10-14 days longer and is more costly than the passage via the Red Sea and Suez Canal
“If you think that the answer to the Houthis is to simply allow them to terrorise free world trade, you are on the wrong track,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters on board the frigate before it departed the Korsor naval base.
The Danish frigate with a crew of around 175 will begin operations in the Red Sea once the Danish Parliament approves a resolution to send the warship into the area, which is expected on Feb. 6.
The frigate carries U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ESSM surface-to-air interceptor missiles, but will not be able to defend itself or other ships against ballistic missiles, said head of the Danish Navy Command, Henrik Ryberg.
Denmark has for years planned to buy the more powerful and longer-range SM-2 and SM-6 missiles capable of defending against ballistic missiles but has not got delivery of those yet, he said.
It will not participate in U.S.-led offensive operations against the Houthis, the minister said.
Source: Reuter
