conflict
Government considers request for naval deployment in the Red Sea
A container ship from the Hapag-Lloyd shipping company enters the port of Hamburg. photo
© Bodo Marks/dpa
Yemeni rebels see ships in the Red Sea headed for Israel as a “legitimate target.” Now a German shipping company’s freighter is also in their crosshairs.
The federal government has announced the attack on a container freighter belonging to the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd Red Sea condemns and considers a US request for a naval deployment. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said on Friday in Berlin that the USA had made a request to the German Navy a few days ago as to whether it would be able to provide support in the Red Sea, “without any specific demands being made.” He said: “This request is currently being examined and will certainly be discussed with all necessary responsible bodies in the government.”
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said press reports about the attack on the “Al Jasrah” were known. There are no own findings that could be shared now. “Overall, I can say that the federal government condemns the attack on this ship as well as the recent attacks on civilian merchant ships in the Red Sea and in the Al-Mandab Strait, which occur almost daily,” she said. These are completely unacceptable and represent a massive interference with the safety of international shipping.
The container ship “Al Jasrah” was shot at and damaged in the strait between Yemen and Djibouti. There were no injuries, a spokesman for the Hamburg shipping company told the German Press Agency. According to the information, the freighter had sailed from Piraeus in Greece through the Suez Canal and was heading towards Singapore. According to media reports, there was a fire on board after the shelling.
Yemeni Houthi rebels recently attacked ships in the Red Sea. It was only on Thursday that German shipowners demanded protective measures from the federal government and the EU. With over 1,800 ships, the German merchant fleet is the seventh largest among the world’s major merchant fleets. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and rockets, among other things, and have threatened to prevent ships of all nationalities from passing through the Red Sea on their way to Israel.