The frigate Psara of the Greek Navy, which has been participating in the European Union’s Operation Aspides in the Red Sea for months now, successfully defended a merchant vessel from an incoming drone attack launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden.
The incident became public in the early hours of Sunday.
According to information from major Greek news outlets, the Greek frigate managed to shoot down at least one drone and pushed several more away from the merchant vessel.
The second success of the Greek frigate in a week
Only a week ago, the Greek frigate Psara shot down several more drones fired by Houthi rebels against another commercial vessel.
This was announced by the Greece Ministry of Defense on Sunday, July 7.
Last week’s incident was the first engagement of the Psara frigate in the Red Sea, off Yemen. The Psara frigate recently replaced another Greek frigate, the Hydra, which had been operating in the same area for months.
According to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff’s (GEETHA) statement from last week, the frigate “utilized both its anti-drone system and its guns engaged four Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Two drones were shot down, and the other two were forced to disperse.”
The incident happened days after the Psara frigate was visited in the port of Djibouti by Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias and the outgoing High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.
During his visit to the Greek frigate a few weeks ago, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias expressed to the Greek sailors his appreciation for their dangerous mission.
It has to be noted that the primary goal of the Greeks there is to escort merchant marine ships against Houthi attacks and make sure they have a safe passage from this dangerous region.
Dendias noted, among other things, that if the free passage of shipping is interrupted, the upheaval in markets, the increase of inflation, and the loss of jobs, will deeply affect both Greece and the broader European society as a whole.
The ”Aspides” operation was launched by the European Union earlier this year. Its name comes from the Greek word for ”shields” or ”protector”.
The EU has publicly said that this European operation will contribute to maritime security along the main sea lanes in an area including the Straits of Bab el-Madab, the Straits of Hormuz, and the international waters in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf.
