Saudi Arabia launches Red Sea maritime defence alliance with eight littoral states

Saudi Arabia announced a Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance to protect the Red Sea, Bab el‑Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. The coalition, unveiled in Riyadh on 30 July, brings together Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia, with additional partners such as Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Comoros joining the effort.

The alliance aims to safeguard one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors – which carries roughly 12 % of global trade, including oil, LNG and container traffic – through intelligence sharing, joint exercises and coordinated patrols. It is a response to escalating maritime threats, notably Houthi attacks on Saudi‑linked vessels and a recent drone strike on Egypt’s Damietta port, as broader US‑Iran tensions spill into the Red Sea region.