Operation Prosperity Guardian was a United States-led military operation by a multinational coalition formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Following the breakout of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthi movement in Yemen launched a series of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, including but not limited to those heading or related to Israel, with the stated purpose of preventing the bombing of Gaza and forcing Israel to let food and medicine into the strip. On 18 December 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the formation of an international maritime security force aimed at ending the blockade and countering threats by Houthi forces against international maritime commerce in the region.
The coalition had more than 20 members Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both economically reliant on unhindered commercial shipping in the area, are absent from the listed participants. France, Italy and Spain have also declined to participate. The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Usama Rabia, claimed that "navigation traffic in the Suez Canal was not affected by what is happening in the Red Sea". Nevertheless, on 10 January, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution demanding a cessation of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.
The day of the UNSC resolution, the Houthis launched their largest-ever barrage of 18–24 attack drones and missiles at international ships and warships in the Red Sea. In response, on 12 January 2024, the coalition launched its first airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, to which the Houthis have pledged to retaliate.
As of 2 January 2025, the Houthis recorded 931 American and British airstrikes against its sites in Yemen, resulting in 106 deaths and 314 injuries. Since 15 March 2025, attacks in Yemen have intensified during Operation Rough Rider and the United States have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes.
On 6 May 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the Houthis had "capitulated" and promised not to attack commercial vessels passing Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. He further declared the US strikes to be over, "effective immediately," as a result of a ceasefire between the U.S. and the Houthis, brokered by Oman.
The Houthis agreed to halt attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea but emphasized that the ceasefire did not in "any way, shape, or form" apply to Israel. While Trump framed the truce as the Houthis having "capitulated" and not "want[ing] to fight anymore," while also having shown "a lot of bravery," the Houthis stated that it was in fact the U.S. that "backed down." Administration officials interviewed by The New York Times said that Trump agreed to the cease fire because the airstrikes were not achieving their objectives and the United States failed to achieve air superiority against the Houthis.
After the ceasefire was implemented, attacks on commercial shipping resumed. Operation Aspides a "purely defensive" EU military operation has continued to provide limited protection to shipping.
Operation Prosperity Guardian was a United States-led military operation by a multinational coalition formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Following the breakout of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthi movement in Yemen launched a series of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, including but not limited to those heading or related to Israel, with the stated purpose of preventing the bombing of Gaza and forcing Israel to let food and medicine into the strip. On 18 December 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the formation of an international maritime security force aimed at ending the blockade and countering threats by Houthi forces against international maritime commerce in the region.
The coalition had more than 20 members Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both economically reliant on unhindered commercial shipping in the area, are absent from the listed participants. France, Italy and Spain have also declined to participate. The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Usama Rabia, claimed that "navigation traffic in the Suez Canal was not affected by what is happening in the Red Sea". Nevertheless, on 10 January, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution demanding a cessation of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.
The day of the UNSC resolution, the Houthis launched their largest-ever barrage of 18–24 attack drones and missiles at international ships and warships in the Red Sea. In response, on 12 January 2024, the coalition launched its first airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, to which the Houthis have pledged to retaliate.
As of 2 January 2025, the Houthis recorded 931 American and British airstrikes against its sites in Yemen, resulting in 106 deaths and 314 injuries. Since 15 March 2025, attacks in Yemen have intensified during Operation Rough Rider and the United States have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes.
On 6 May 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the Houthis had "capitulated" and promised not to attack commercial vessels passing Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. He further declared the US strikes to be over, "effective immediately," as a result of a ceasefire between the U.S. and the Houthis, brokered by Oman.
The Houthis agreed to halt attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea but emphasized that the ceasefire did not in "any way, shape, or form" apply to Israel. While Trump framed the truce as the Houthis having "capitulated" and not "want[ing] to fight anymore," while also having shown "a lot of bravery," the Houthis stated that it was in fact the U.S. that "backed down." Administration officials interviewed by The New York Times said that Trump agreed to the cease fire because the airstrikes were not achieving their objectives and the United States failed to achieve air superiority against the Houthis.
After the ceasefire was implemented, attacks on commercial shipping resumed. Operation Aspides a "purely defensive" EU military operation has continued to provide limited protection to shipping.
Background
The operation aims to ensure both the freedom of navigation and the safety of maritime traffic in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden. Following the start of the Gaza war, multiple civilian container and freight ships were attacked and hijacked in the Gulf of Aden by Houthi forces. Houthi forces stated that only vessels with links to Israel are targeted, though vessels without links to Israel have been targeted, possibly due to misidentification from many vessels turning off their automatic identification system signal during transit. The Houthis claim the attacks will end if Israel allows humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza; the attempted blockade is seen as a way to pressure Israel's Western allies to work to restrain Israeli operations in the war. As of 1 January 2024, at least seventeen civilian vessels have been attacked.
The waterways to and from the Red Sea are shipping chokepoints for the global economy which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal with the Horn of Africa. This had led to the 2023 situation being dubbed "a new Suez Crisis" by The Economist.
A considerable number of freighters have continued to transit, with mostly large container ships diverting away rather than other shipping, with the strait continuing to be heavily used by bulk carriers and tankers which are under different contract arrangements and often from countries supportive of Gaza's situation so perceiving a minimal risk from ongoing Houthi attacks. In the first week of January 2024 the average number of freighters active each day in the Red Sea included 105 bulk carriers and 58 tankers, down from 115 bulk carriers and 70 tankers the week before. In contrast, six of the ten largest container shipping companies were largely avoiding the Red Sea, with relatively few container ships transiting the Bab al-Mandeb strait from 18 December 2023.
Forces
For most of the campaign, the US Navy assigned two carrier strike groups, equating at least five ships each, and 7,000 personnel in the Red Sea for the operation.
Australia announced that it will send 11 military personnel but rejected a US request to send a warship. The Canadian Armed Forces will deploy an unspecified number of land, air and sea support vehicles. Canada is sending three staff officers by way of Operation Artemis. The Netherlands plans to send two staff officers. Norway plans on dispatching up to ten staff officers, but as of 21 December is not sending any vessels. Singapore will be deploying a team from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN)'s Information Fusion Centre to support information sharing and engagement outreach to the commercial shipping community, as well as a senior national representative to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).
Seychelles is not deploying any vessels or personnel, and limits its participation to "providing and receiving information" as a member of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) (which is based in Bahrain). On 23 January 2024, New Zealand sent six New Zealand Defence Force personnel to help provide maritime security in the Red Sea including "precision targeting".
On 24 February 2024, Sri Lanka Navy confirmed that one of its ships had completed its maiden patrol in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and was returning to the island but did not clarify the dates, name of the ship or plans for further patrols. It was later revealed to be SLNS Gajabahu and the Sri Lankan government confirmed that patrols would continue.
Finland announced on 8 March 2024 that the country would send up to two soldiers to support Operation Prosperity Guardian, in addition to supporting the European Union-led Operation Aspides.
From the day of Operation Prosperity Guardian's announcement to 30 December 2023, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said the coalition had shot down 17 drones and four anti-ship ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis. During that day, the MV Maersk Hangzhou experienced a missile attack and issued a distress call, to which the USS Laboon and USS Gravely responded to. A day later, four Houthi vessels sailed towards the Maersk Hangzhou and attempted a boarding action. Helicopters from the USS Gravely and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were dispatched and attacked the Houthi boats after being fired upon, repelling the attack and killing 10 fighters. The incident represented the first successful Houthi attack on a vessel since the start of the operation, and the first lethal engagement between Houthi and US forces during it.
In their most sophisticated attack at that point, the Houthis launched 18 drones and three missiles at coalition forces in the Red Sea on 9 January 2024.
February saw a Houthi-related incident during every day, while March had incidents in all but nine days, although an increase was reported in the volume of ballistics launched.
With the signing of a ceasefire between the US and Houthis on 6 May 2025, Operation Prosperity Guardian was retired.
Reactions
The Houthis stated: "We have capabilities to sink your fleet, your submarines, your warships", adding "the Red Sea will be your graveyard". In a public statement, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami reassured the Iranian public that there is nothing to fear from the coalition. (The Iranian government has long had purported direct ties to the Houthi movement.) IRGC senior officer Mohammad Reza Naqdi was cited as threatening to close "the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways" without explaining how.
While named by the United States as part of the coalition, the French Defense Ministry stated that its warships, including the frigateLanguedoc, would remain under French command. Italian Defense Ministry, which has deployed the frigate Virginio Fasan in the Red Sea, also stated that the warship was not part of Prosperity Guardian. Spanish Defense Ministry stated that it would only take part in operations under NATO or EU coordination. Spain also vetoed any potential EU contribution to Operation Prosperity Guardian through the resources of EU-conducted Operation Atalanta. At the time, Spain was the commanding nation of Operation Atalanta and had the frigate Victoria deployed in the area.
The Maersk Line announced on 24 December 2023 that with Operation Prosperity Guardian now in place, it would resume using the Suez Canal. On 2 January 2024, both Maersk and Happag-Lloyd announced that the route would once again be avoided until further notice.