Royal Navy: No more warships to be sent to Red Sea after HMS Diamond deployment, No 10 says

Downing Street said the attacks on container ships by militants based in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen were “destabilising” and “unacceptable”. Foreign secretary Lord Cameron spoke to his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday about the situation in the Red Sea – with the pair pledging to “hold the Houthis accountable for these unlawful seizures and attacks”.

But No 10 said while a number of plans were being formulated to respond to the crisis, sending further military assets into the region was not under consideration. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “In terms of other military assets, there are not currently any plans to send additional assets over and above what we already have in the region.”

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It follows speculation that Britain is considering air strikes to ward off the Houthi rebels, which say they are targeting Israel-linked or Israel-destined ships. The militants say their attacks aim to end Israel’s air and ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip following the attack by Hamas on October 7.

Portsmouth-based Type 45 Destroyer HMS Diamond was deployed in early December following several assaults on merchant vessels. The Royal Navy ship shot down a suspected attack drone using a sea viper missile, and is part of Operation Prosperity Guardian alongside French and American vessels.

Action has heated up in the region, with the US military confirming that its helicopters got into a gunfight on Saturday with four armed Houthi boats after they fired on the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou container vessel. Several of the rebels were said to have been killed in the clash.

Following the incident, defence secretary Grant Shapps said the UK Government will not hesitate to take “direct action” to prevent further attacks. Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s administration is weighing up the possibility of an armed response, according to several reports.

Asked on Tuesday whether Britain was considering more armed support to protect the vital global shipping route, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Planning is under way for a range of scenarios. No decisions have been made. We will continue to pursue all potential routes, including diplomatic routes.”

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Mr Sunak’s spokesman said ministers are “committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks”. He added: “These attacks are unacceptable, they are destabilising. The UK is part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is the taskforce working in the region, and we have other assets available.”

London and Washington are said to be preparing a joint statement to issue a final warning to the Yemeni group. Lord Cameron and Mr Blinken on Tuesday “discussed the international community’s shared condemnation of the illegal and unjustified attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi militants”, the Foreign Office said.

“They made clear that the UK and US will work with our partners to hold the Houthis accountable for these unlawful seizures and attacks,” a department spokesman said. The pair also touched upon the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, with Lord Cameron raising the “urgent need for significantly more aid” to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which he said is facing “worsening food insecurity”.