Italy will not wait for Brussels’ notoriously slow bureaucracy to react and is preparing to deploy navy ships at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on its own to protect Italian merchant vessels in the area, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.
Last week, the Iran-backed Houthis insurgent group in Yemen declared control of the island of Perim, located at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime shipping route connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The situation has prompted concerns over the safety of shipping vessels transiting through the area. Most notably, Saudi Arabia has been using the route to ship its oil, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
Defense Minister Crosetto, speaking at a Thursday event, announced he and the Joints Chief of Staff have decided to mobilize the Italian Navy and take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of Italian ships in the area. The minister did not disclose specifics on the announced naval deployment or what other measures are being considered in light of the developing situation.
“We have the capabilities to protect their passage and to gather the useful and necessary information through the efforts of the relevant agencies and their cooperation with us,” Crosetto said.
“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,” he continued.
Crosetto pointed out that disruptions in shipping routes lead to higher costs and prices that affect families and businesses in Italy and other countries. As such, he emphasized, protecting supply chains is in the interests of Italian families, businesses, and the nation’s ability to generate wealth.
“It also means defending what lies beneath the sea’s surface: the cables through which data flows, energy connections, and all that essential infrastructure whose value we often only realize when it is damaged,” Crosetto said.
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“Today, the role of national defense extends far beyond its traditional scope. It involves not only the physical protection of the territory from potential threats, but also economic, energy, digital, and communications security,” he continued. “This is because a nation can be struck not only with bombs, but also by undermining its economy, social cohesion, and citizens’ trust in institutions.”
The European Union presently has a security mission in the Red Sea security called Operation Aspides. According to SkyTG24, Crosetto emphasized that Italy will not wait for Aspides to “decide whether ships can pass.” Per Sky TG24, the Italian Parliament is presently assessing the situation and the need for the deployment.
“We will take action to ensure that Italian ships can begin transition without waiting for European bureaucracy to compound our own,” the Minister reportedly stressed.
According to the Italian news service ANSA, the frigate Bergamini is presently in the port of Djibouti, with “at least a dozen” Italian-flagged merchant ships or ships owned by Italian companies “lined up in front of it, requesting to pass under escort.” ANSA detailed that more than 1,200 ships per month have been crossing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait since the start of Summer — a 28 percent increase than the documented transit during Summer 2025, with a 43 percent increase in registered tonnage.
“When a shipping route is disrupted, goods arrive late, costs rise, and prices increase for families and businesses. And every economic crisis hits the most vulnerable people the hardest, putting social cohesion and the country’s stability at risk,” Minister Crosetto said on Thursday.
“Defending freedom of navigation therefore means protecting our supply chains, businesses’ operations, families’ 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 connections, and all that essential infrastructure whose value we often only realize when it is damaged,” he continued.