Sri Lanka’s navy said it was joining a US-led maritime taskforce to protect international shipping against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, AFP reports.

“We will be joining ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ led by the US Navy,” naval spokesman Gayan Wickramasuriya said, with the deployment of a patrol vessel crewed by more than 100 people.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Houthi attacks had raised freight costs and were impacting exports of garments and tea.

He said the move would add no additional cost as the vessel was already patrolling Sri Lanka’s vast maritime boundary.