This is an archive article published on February 24, 2024
Premium
Houthi attacks in Red Sea form of sea denial, says UK Navy Chief
In an interaction with a few journalists Friday, he said a number of ships pass through the Indian Ocean. A proportion of those move up to the Red Sea that go through the Suez Canal and into Europe.
Admiral Ben Key, the United Kingdom’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff. (www.gov.uk/government)
There are some significant challenges in the maritime domain at present and recent events in the Red Sea area are a major threat to free economic trade around the world, Admiral Ben Key, the United Kingdom’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff said Friday.
In an interaction with a few journalists Friday, he said a number of ships pass through the Indian Ocean. A proportion of those move up to the Red Sea that go through the Suez Canal and into Europe. “What the Houthis are doing has got nothing to do with the Israel-Gaza conflict despite what they claim. It is a form of sea denial,” he said.
Advertisement
Key is on a three-day visit to India and has met the Indian defence brass here. He said the sea denial forced by the Houthis is against people who have the right to use the high seas for peaceful purpose of trade and for mutual benefit of nations which is well established within United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “And that is what they are threatening and that is where navies like ourselves and the Indian Navy have a responsibility to step in and seek to provide security for commercial shipping, fishing, and lawful use of the seas, to provide reassurance and a protective net around, to ensure that the Houthis can’t achieve what they are setting out to do,” he said.
Admiral Ben Key, the United Kingdom’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff. (www.gov.uk/government) 
Share
