RIO DE JANEIRO, February 5. /TASS/. Episodes of sea piracy have become more frequent not only off the Somali coast, but also in the Arabian Sea due to the escalation of the conflict between the Yemeni movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) and the US-led naval coalition, Rear Admiral Antonio Braz de Souza of the Brazilian Navy said.

According to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, the Brazilian Navy in January took command of the international naval operational group created to counter pirate attacks on shipping waterways off the Somalian coast. This is the third time Brazil has led the task force, but in 2021 and 2022, "the situation [in the region] was not as tense and dangerous" as it is now, the paper said.

"Since the conflict in the Middle East escalated, there have been several pirate attacks, not only off the coast of Somalia, but also more than 1,000 kilometers away - in the Arabian Sea," the newspaper quoted the rear admiral as saying. According to him, the region saw an uptick in piracy-related crime after the escalation of the conflict between the Houthis and the US-led coalition.

In August 2022, the International Chamber of Shipping and other international stakeholders ruled to revoke the "high-risk area" status for the Indian Ocean starting on January 1, 2023, as piracy off the coast of Somalia no longer posed a risk to shipping.

Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis said they will deliver strikes on Israeli territory and will not allow pro-Israel ships to sail through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave is stopped.

According to the latest figures, the Houthis have attacked more than 30 civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since mid-November of 2023.