Red Sea

The United States is leading a new military cooperation in the Red Sea, where the participating countries will patrol the sea to protect international shipping from attack, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told Reuters. The cooperation has been established following attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Denmark would “participate” in helping with security, without elaborating on how.
     The statement came the same day as the Norwegian-owned and Danish-operated ship M/V “Swan Atlantic” has been attacked in the southern part of the Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas – possibly with one or more sea drones, US officials told Reuters Monday. The U.S. warship USS “Carney” has responded to the ship’s distress call by sailing toward it, officials added. M/V “Swan Atlantic” is a tanker owned by Norwegian Inventor Chemical Tankers, the Norwegian business media E24 wrote. Danske Børsen reported that the ship is operated by Danish tanker company Uni-Tankers. And Uni-Tankers told Børsen that the attack caused a small fire, which is now under control. “All the ship’s employees are doing well,” the company said. /ritzau