The Navy will “escort” Italian ships through Bab el Mandeb. Crosetto: “Protecting businesses’ operations”

Faced with the "difficult situation" in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, which comes on top of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the "economic consequences of numerous international tensions", it has been decided "to deploy the Navy to make the necessary arrangements to ensure the safe passage of Italian ships". This was stated today by the Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto, during the “Risorsa mare 2026” forum in La Spezia, explaining that he had taken the decision together with the Chief of the Defence Staff. Bab el Mandeb, the southern gateway of the Red Sea route to the Suez Canal, together with the Strait of Hormuz, is the other major ‘bottleneck’ for maritime trade at risk, through which approximately 12 per cent of world trade passes. It is precisely this strait over which the Yemeni Houthi rebels, backed by Tehran, have now gained full control. 

“We have the capacity to safeguard the passage (of Italian ships, ed.) and to gather useful and necessary information through the work of the sector and in cooperation with us. We cannot allow bureaucratic delays in decision-making to exacerbate an already complex situation, with direct consequences for our economy and the lives of our citizens,” explained Crosetto. When a shipping route is disrupted, he emphasised, “goods arrive late, costs rise and prices increase for households and businesses”. And every economic crisis, the minister added, “hits the most vulnerable people hardest, jeopardising social cohesion and the country’s stability”. Defending freedom of navigation, the minister continued, “therefore means protecting our supplies, businesses’ operations, households’ purchasing power and Italy’s ability to generate wealth. It also means defending what lies beneath the sea’s surface: the cables through which data flows, energy links and all that essential infrastructure whose value we often only realise when it is damaged”.

Today, “the role of defence extends far beyond its traditional remit”, Crosetto emphasised. “It concerns not only the physical protection of the territory from potential threats, but also economic, energy, digital and communications security. Because a nation can be struck not only with bombs, but also by undermining its economy, social cohesion and citizens’ trust in institutions”. Almost 90 per cent of global freight traffic travels by sea, the minister added. This is why “for a major maritime nation such as Italy, safeguarding it both above and below the surface means defending its security, its prosperity and its future. The sea has been part of our history for centuries and is one of the main sources of our wealth. The Ministry of Defence and the Navy will continue to protect it – he concluded – taking concrete action whenever necessary to safeguard national interests and the security of Italians.”