Saudi Arabia launches naval alliance to secure vital waterways

Saudi Arabia announced Thursday the formation of a new maritime defense alliance with 13 other nations to protect commercial shipping in critical waterways. The coalition aims to secure routes including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden, areas frequently disrupted by Houthi militia actions.

This initiative comes as persistent security threats in these waters, compounded by bottlenecks at the Strait of Hormuz, have heightened global energy security concerns, pushing crude oil prices toward $90 per barrel. The founding members of the alliance include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia.

The pact was formalized during a military conference in Riyadh, where defense chiefs and delegates from 43 nations gathered. Saudi Arabia will host the alliance's headquarters and its integrated command structure, operational control hub, and general secretariat. The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the alliance is a "purely defensive initiative" not targeting any specific state and will operate strictly within international legal frameworks and respect member sovereignty. Additional countries can join following their domestic approval processes.

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purely defensive initiative