RFA ships arrive in India having risked Houthi attacks after humanitarian mission to Gaza

Two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships have arrived in India, making it the first time their whereabouts has been known since they took part in a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza in January.

In October, both RFA Argus and RFA Lyme Bay were sent to the eastern Mediterranean to support humanitarian efforts in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Little information had been known about their whereabouts or what they had been doing, but in January RFA Lyme Bay delivered 80 tonnes of aid for Gaza into Port Said in Egypt.

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Now, the pair have arrived in Chennai for essential maintenance at an Indian shipyard - a first for a Royal Navy ship.

But their journey will not have been without risk because in order to get to India they will have sailed through the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

This is a route that is being shunned by many shipping companies due to the risk to vessels from attacks by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

This also means the ships would have sailed with adequate protection.

On Monday,  it was reported that HMS Diamond and two US destroyers had recently escorted a naval task force of UK support ships sailing towards the Indian Ocean.

It is likely these ships were RFA Argus and RFA Lyme Bay.

The two ships are part of the Royal Navy's Littoral Response Group (South).

They are large, flexible vessels, with capacity to deploy small boats and helicopters, deliver equipment and stores ashore and extract people.

After travelling through the Red Sea, the ships have since conducted maritime exercises with the Indian Navy as they entered the Arabian Sea.

Following that the LRG will take part in training and exercises in the Indo Pacific.

Earlier this month, HMS Richmond handed her Red Sea responsibilities back to HMS Diamond after nearly six weeks of repelling attacks by Houthi rebels.

Forces News was also given special access to the Royal Navy's control centre for handling shipping emergencies, which acts as a hub to receive distress calls from ships in many parts of the world – including the Red Sea.