US: Major Middle East shipping routes secure despite turmoil
Shipping corridors used by Gulf energy exporters are not at risk from violence and political volatility in Yemen and the seizure of swathes of territory in the region by Islamic State militants, a senior US naval officer said on Monday.
Vice Admiral John Miller, Commander of US Naval Central Command, told a conference in Abu Dhabi that a "robust" US and international maritime presence was helping to minimize threats to oil-producing countries in the region.
"As dynamic as the region is today, what we have seen over the past years is the maritime atmosphere has been safe, the free flow of commerce has been stable and secure," said Miller, also Commander of US 5th Fleet/Combined Maritime Forces.
He was referring to the Bab el Mandab, a narrow channel between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest waterways which connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, the world's most important oil export route.
