Indian Navy escorts oil tankers through Red Sea chokepoint

Indian warships escorted two crude oil tankers through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait amid the recent attacks that have struck commercial ships around the shipping chokepoint in the Red Sea.

The INS Trishul, a guided missile frigate, and the INS Aditya, a combat logistics ship, escorted the MT Compass and the MT Thalatta “to safely transit the high-risk area through #BabelMandeb strait” over Sunday and Monday, the Navy’s Western Naval Command posted on X.

The strait is a vital maritime gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez canal. Last week, an India-flagged cargo vessel, the MSV Faize Noore Oliya, sank near the Yemen coast after it was struck by a projectile.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia last month blockaded all Saudi Arabian ships and those carrying Saudi oil from transiting through the Red Sea. Last week, the Shiite rebels claimed they had attacked eight Saudi-linked ships since the blockade began.

It is not clear if the ships escorted by the Indian Navy are carrying Saudi oil. The escorts could signal a new willingness from New Delhi to secure its energy supply routes through global conflict zones. 

READ MORE: Indian ship sinks near Yemen after attack

The Indian Navy said it “remains committed to securing the safe transit of vital energy cargo and protecting Indian maritime interests.”

Saudi Arabia shifted most of its oil exports to the Red Sea after Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, another strategic maritime chokepoint through which about a fifth of the world’s energy used to transit, following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. But some tankers have been forced to reverse course, or switch off their transponders amid the Houthi blockade.

European navy ships operating under Operation Aspides also provide escorts to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and the US Navy’s Operation Prosperity Guardian does the same for commercial shipping in the region.