The EU has escorted hundreds of commercial vessels to safety under Operation ASPIDES.

Omissions

• EUNAVFOR ASPIDES distinguishes between vessels 'supported' overall (over 2,390 since February 2024, per the EEAS figure reported in August 2026) and vessels that received actual 'close protection'/escort (more than 720); the claim's 'escorted' wording corresponds to the narrower close-protection figure.
• The figures are cumulative since the operation's launch in February 2024, not figures for a specific recent period; the speaker does not specify the reference date.
• The exact reference date of the EEAS mandate webpage consulted could not be established from the search results; the corroborating secondary source is dated 24 August 2026, i.e. before the session date of 20 October 2026.

Sources

• PrimaryEEAS — EUNAVFOR ASPIDES Mandate (official operation page)'EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, since its launch in February 2024, has supported ... close protection to more than 720 ships.'
• PrimaryCouncil of the EU — press release: Maritime security: Council updates mandates of EU naval operations ASPIDES and ATALANTA'EUNAVFOR ASPIDES was established on 8 February 2024 and launched on 19 February 2024 in response to threats to maritime security in the Red Sea.' (confirms existence, launch date and maritime-security escort mandate of the operation; no vessel count given in the retrieved excerpt)
• SecondaryLovguiden / EU External Action Service summary (Danish shipping news)'EUNAVFOR ASPIDES has supported over 2,390 merchant vessels since February 2024. More than 720 ships have received close protection under the ...'