U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on July 12 that the supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has arrived in the 5th Fleet area of operations taking over for the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower which left the Red Sea area in late June after approximately six months in the region. The carrier is transferring from the Indo-Pacific region where she had been operating since deployment at the beginning of 2024.
The Houthi rebels have already issued several threats against the supercarrier. Spokesperson Yahya Saree had said the carrier would be a target as soon as it was in range. Several days ago, he posted a cryptic message on social media only saying “three days.” The Houthis claimed to have targeted the Eisenhower on several occasions during her time in the Red Sea area. They claimed direct hits refuted by multiple sources and photos of the Eisenhower when she returned to the Mediterranean before starting her transit to base in Virginia.
The Eisenhower had been in the region since October when she was first sent into the Eastern Mediterranean after the attack on Israel by Hamas. CENTCOM reported that the Eisenhower's aircrew flew 30,000 hours' worth of sorties, and the ship transited more than 55,000 miles during her mission. The carrier was instrumental in airstrikes on Houthi positions and in carrying out helicopter rescue missions for vessels that were hit by Houthi attacks.
USS Theodore Roosevelt sailed unannounced from San Diego in early January with the only statement being that she would be on routine operations in the Indo-Pacific region. The carrier had been in the U.S. for 18 months of maintenance and overhauls including according to reports upgrades to the flight deck to handle F-35C Lightning II fighter jets.
The carrier completed a joint exercise with Japan and South Korea on June 29. On July 7, the U.S. Navy reported as part of routine operations she along with the carrier group transited the Strait of Malacca. It is unclear which vessels are sailing with her as part of the Carrier Group.
While there have been lulls in the Houthis attacks, they continue to target merchant ships. On Wednesday, July 10, the Liberian-flagged tanker Mount Fuji (150,000 dwt) reported a nearby explosion with some reports saying one missile stuck the water and another exploded in the air. Earlier in the week, a long-range attack was confirmed on the Maersk Line, Ltd. containership Maersk Sentosa while the Houthis also claimed to have targeted the Malta-flagged containership Marathopolis (70,461 dwt) run by Greece's Costamare Shipping and the MSC Patnaree III (35,746 dwt) a Liberian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
CENTCOM provides daily updates on the number of uncrewed surface and aerial vessels being destroyed with for example five surface vessels in the Red Sea and two aerial drones destroyed in the past 24 hours. At the same time, EUNAVFOR Aspides highlighted that the Italian frigate ITS Virginio Fasan had completed another close protection operation while providing a picture of a CMA CGM containership being escorted.
Concerns were raised as the Houthis were spotted apparently testing a cluster of surface drones at the end of June. A merchant ship reported spotting as many as a dozen of the drones that were in the vicinity of the vessel. They came within about 1.5 nautical miles before leaving the area in the Red Sea.
