Expanded US-Led Naval Task Force To Protect Red Sea Shipping

Handout photo dated June 15, 2020shows the amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) transits the Suez Canal. The Pentagon has convinced more than a half dozen allies to join a strengthened naval task force in the Red Sea amid mounting attacks by Iran-backed rebels on commercial shipping that have driven oil prices higher. More than 9mn barrels a day of oil shipments, or almost a tenth of global demand, pass through the Red Sea, making it one of the world’s busiest energy chokepoints. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Griffin Kersting via ABACAPRESS.COM