18 September 2026 | 16:28

READING: 3 minutes

The frigate Carlo Bergamini, engaged in the European operation Aspides, recently escorted the Italian merchant vessel Jolly Oro, operated by the shipping company Ignazio Messina & C., while it transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait northbound. “A concrete signal, delivered with excellent timing, of the importance of maintaining strong attention on the safety of commercial navigation in the area,” the Navy notes. “This activity falls within the tasks assigned to the naval forces of operation Aspides and represents a concrete contribution to freedom of navigation and to the safety of merchant traffic in one of the strategic passages for global maritime connections.”

“In a context marked by persistent risks to commercial navigation, ensuring safe passage through the straits means protecting the continuity of routes and trades on which our country’s economy and security depend,” the Navy concludes. The Italian Navy has participated in operation Aspides since its inception, maintaining a continuous presence in the area and contributing to the protection of merchant shipping and the safeguarding of freedom of navigation.

Tajani: “For months we have asked the EU to strengthen the Aspides mission”

“For months we have been asking the European Union to reinforce the Aspides mission. Italy and Greece are doing a lot,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, meeting journalists at the Farnesina on the sidelines of the presentation of the First Euromediterranean Water Forum. “More funding is also needed because if we have to guarantee all of Europe, and there is no military contribution, there must be a financial contribution,” he added.

Tajani also explained that he wrote to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, who announced an increase in the alert level of the Aspides mission in the Red Sea in light of the Houthi offensive. “As Italians we will continue to do what we have always done. If it can be done with the Aspides mission even better, but there is no time to waste because ships must pass and time is running out,” Tajani concluded.

Tajani recalled that “Italy is at the forefront of maritime security and of defending the principle of freedom of navigation. We are ready to give our contribution to the resumption of trade through the Strait of Hormuz.” “We are engaged in the Red Sea with mission Aspides,” Tajani noted, adding that “we are watching with great attention the new tensions in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait due to attacks by the Houthi rebels.”

EU position

“The Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia are unacceptable and sabotage the global economy,” says EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, who after a conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan reported that “given the deteriorating security situation, the EU’s Operation Aspides has raised the alert level of its ships while continuing its escort duties.” With bin Farhan, Kallas wrote on X, she discussed “diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Yemen and restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The sea lane must be open and free of tolls.” “Europe,” she added, “is helping to protect navigation in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.”

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