Italy will deploy warships to protect its commercial vessels passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said. Rome will move ahead with the deployment without waiting for a joint decision from the European Union.

"We have the capabilities to protect the passage," Crosetto said, warning that the economic impact would be severe if the waterway became impassable. He also said Rome "must not allow bureaucratic delays in decision-making to exacerbate an already complex situation".

Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. It is a key shipping route between Europe and Asia and carries major oil, gas and container traffic moving towards and from the Suez Canal. 12 to 15 per cent of global trade has historically passed through the narrow strait.

The waterway separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea. At its narrowest point, it is only about 30 kilometres wide. Its importance has increased sharply since Iran effectively seized control of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year during its war with the United States and Israel.

The disruption at Hormuz has pushed Gulf oil shipments towards alternative routes. Saudi Arabia has increasingly used pipelines and Red Sea shipping to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. This has made Bab al-Mandeb one of the remaining major routes for Gulf oil to reach international markets.

Control of Bab al-Mandeb has remained contested for years. Yemen's government, Houthi rebels and other regional forces have controlled parts of the coastline at different times since the Yemen war began in 2015.

The situation has changed significantly in recent weeks after the Iran-backed Houthi movement launched a rapid offensive. The group brought Yemen's entire western Red Sea coast under its control, along with several strategically important islands.

The advance has given the Houthis broad access to the Bab al-Mandeb waterway. The development has raised concerns for international shipping, given the group's previous attacks on vessels linked to the United States and its regional allies.

The United States and the European Union have already conducted military operations to protect merchant ships from Houthi attacks in the area. However, these efforts have not fully secured the route as fighting in Yemen has intensified.

Italy's decision to deploy warships comes as the security situation around one of the world's key maritime corridors continues to deteriorate. Rome indicated that it will act independently rather than wait for an EU decision.