CTF 153

The Combined Maritime Forces task force for the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden, stood up on 17 April 2022 to focus on maritime security and capacity building in those waters. CTF-153 was created to relieve CTF-150 of the Red Sea area and to concentrate effort on the Bab-el-Mandeb chokepoint and the southern Red Sea approaches. Headquartered in Bahrain, it coordinates with regional partners on counter-smuggling and counter-terrorism; the same area later saw Houthi attacks on shipping addressed by separate coalitions.