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

Handout photo dated November 5, 2023 shows Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Brandon Frayde guides an E-2C Hawkeye from the "Screwtops" of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 123 to launch during flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Red Sea. 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 Janae Chambers via ABACAPRESS.COM