US and other Nato countries should not bother with protecting merchant ships attacked in the Red sea. The shipping companies have to rely on the navies of their flag states for protection. The 10 largest flag states for shipping are:
Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malta, Bahamas, China, Greece, Japan
Hong Kong is now China. But there is still an independent shipping tax haven there. The shipping companies avoiding taxes in western countries does not deserve protection from the same countries.
They can get a return of the tax money by letting the mentionee countries send their navies. Greece is a NATO country, so NATO can participate to some degree with support to the flag state navies.
*Guess this was a popular opinion.
Europe and Northern America need the goods those merchant ships transport.
To retain the logistical profits, high-income countries could operate shipping organisations themselves, like they sometimes do with railways.
Various actors like industry and retail in Europe and Northern America often rely on cheap transportation costs to sustain spatial production benefits.
The red sea shouldn’t be controlled by Iran.
Not protecting merchant ships discourages sailors from joining shipping professions.
Sailors often have various nationalities, including high-income countries. Not defending merchant ships endangers those lives.