Denmark to send frigate to US-led task force in Red Sea

Denmark will send a frigate to participate in the US-led Red Sea operation next month, the Danish defense minister said on Friday.

Several countries, led by the United States, on December 19 agreed to patrol the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to safeguard commercial shipping against attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia in the area.

“We are concerned about the serious situation unfolding in the Red Sea, where unprovoked attacks against civilian shipping continue,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement.

Denmark will submit a resolution to parliament in January to contribute to the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian with a frigate that can be deployed from the end of January, the government added.

The US says Prosperity Guardian is a defensive coalition of more than 20 nations to ensure billions of dollars’ worth of commerce can flow freely through a vital shipping chokepoint in Red Sea waters off Yemen.

Denmark on December 20 said it would join the US-led task force, sending one officer. The Nordic country previously had two officers stationed in the area as a part of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces, which aims to protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea region.