US aircraft carrier returns to Red Sea amid ongoing Houthi attacks

The Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier is back in the Red Sea after a short port call and ongoing Houthi attacks by the Yemeni group, a US official told Al Arabiya English on Tuesday.

The IKE has been at the forefront of an international coalition to confront Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the Iran-backed group started attacking merchant, commercial and military vessels in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The aircraft carrier left the Red Sea and arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean after transiting through the Suez Canal on April 26. It then made its first public port call in Souda Bay, Crete, before returning to the Red Sea this week. A US defense official told Al Arabiya English that the IKE went to Crete for a quick resupply mission.

The Houthis have carried out at least 140 attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Nov. 19, the official said.

It remains unclear to the sailors and officers aboard the Eisenhower when they will be able to return home to the US, but Biden administration officials estimate early summer as a realistic timeframe for the strike group to return to Norfolk. However, the US will maintain a presence in the area, and it is expected that a different aircraft carrier will take over the responsibilities of the IKE in the next few weeks.

The Eisenhower, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group Two, has been deployed since Oct. 14, just days after the Hamas attack, which reignited fighting in a region that US President Joe Biden’s top national security advisor had said just a few days before was “quieter today than it has been in two decades now.”