The security coalition, Austin said, will operate “with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity”.

It includes the United States, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, Austin said.

Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

‘Fragile’ Saudi peace efforts hamper US response to Houthi attacks in Red Sea

Several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation but prefer not to be publicly named, a US defence official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss additional details of the new mission that have not been publicly announced.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said earlier they had attacked two “Israeli-linked” vessels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza, as more companies halt transit through the troubled but vital waterway.

The attacks on the Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic and another ship identified by the Houthis as the MSC Clara are the latest in a flurry of maritime incidents that are disrupting global trade in an attempt to pressure Israel over its war against Hamas militants.

In a statement, the Yemeni rebels said they had carried out a “military operation against two ships linked to the Zionist entity” using naval drones.

They vowed to “continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports … from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas” until more food and medicine is allowed into Gaza.

But the Swan Atlantic’s owner, Norway’s Inventor Chemical Tankers, said in a statement the ship was carrying biofuel feedstock from France to Reunion Island.

It said the vessel has “no Israeli link” and was managed by a Singaporean firm, adding that the Indian crew were unharmed and the vessel sustained limited damage.

British oil giant BP became the latest to suspend transit through the Red Sea on Monday, while Taiwan shipping firm Evergreen said it was suspending its Israeli cargo shipments with immediate effect.

Cargo ship in Red Sea hit, set ablaze by projectile launched from Yemen

Frontline, one of the world’s largest tanker companies, also said it was re-routing ships and would “only allow new business” that could be routed via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

That route is far longer and uses more fuel.

The Red Sea attacks have forced insurance companies to significantly increase premiums on ships, making it uneconomical for some to transit through the Suez Canal.

Italian-Swiss giant Mediterranean Shipping Company, France’s CMA CGM, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, Belgium’s Euronav and Denmark’s A.P Moller-Maersk – the latter accounting for 15 per cent of global container freight – have all stopped using the Red Sea until further notice.

The attacks have become “a maritime security crisis” with “commercial and economic implications in the region and beyond,” Torbjorn Soltvedt of analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft said.

Monday’s attack took place as the Pentagon chief visited Israel after a stop in Bahrain, home base of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

“In the Red Sea, we’re leading a multinational maritime task force to uphold the bedrock principle of freedom of navigation. Iran’s support for Houthi attacks on commercial vessels must stop,” Austin said at a news conference.

On Saturday, a US destroyer shot down 14 drones in the Red Sea launched from rebel-controlled areas of Yemen, the US military said.

Britain said one of its destroyers had also brought down a suspected attack drone in the area.

To date the US has not struck back at the Houthis operating in Yemen or targeted any of the militants’ weapons or other sites. On Monday Austin did not answer a question as to why the Pentagon had not conducted a counterstrike.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said neutral Oman had launched mediation efforts to safeguard shipping using the waterway.

“Under the sponsorship of our brothers in the Sultanate of Oman, communication and discussion continue with a number of international parties regarding operations in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

Additional reporting by Associated Press