Third Royal Navy warship deployed to Gulf as tensions soar
HMS Richmond will join two other Royal Navy vessels
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
The Royal Navy is deploying a third warship to the Gulf region, amid growing tensions and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
In a statement to Parliament, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond will join two other Royal Navy vessels on policing duties in the region.
HMS Lancaster, another Type 23 frigate, and the Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond, are currently protecting shipping in the busy waters around the Red Sea, following regular attacks by Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Defence Secretary said: “We are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and remain committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.
Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond, along with Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster, is already in the region
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
“The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and commercial shipping in these critical waterways.
More than 60 missiles, aerial drones and even unmanned surface drones have been launched towards commercial ships in the region, with Houthi rebels claiming the attacks are aimed at vessels linked to Israel.
The attacks, which have been ongoing for weeks, threaten to significantly disrupt the flow of commercial goods through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a key route for trade between Asia and the West.
Last week, the US, UK and a dozen other coalition partners issued a ‘final warning’ to the Houthis hinting at possible military strikes on the rebels if they continue to launch attacks.
For now at least, that warning appears to have fallen on deaf ears, after a number of other missile and drone attacks were launched in recent days.
Those attacks included the explosive detonation of an unmanned surface vessel near a US warship last Thursday.
The drone vessel explosion was also in the vicinity of a number of commercial vessels, but none were damaged.
Grant Shapps told the Commons that the deployment of HMS Richmond to the Gulf was not an escalation of tensions, as it would likely eventually replace one of the other Royal Navy warships currently on station in the region.
But the Defence Secretary warned again that the “UK would not tolerate trade being impacted globally in the manner in which the Houthis are currently impacting it.”
He added: “It will have ramifications on everybody’s bills and the flow of free trade and goods and it must come to a halt.”
HMS Richmond sailed from Plymouth on Friday.
Although primarily an anti-submarine warfare platform, she is also equipped to protect merchant shipping from air and surface threats.