Alliance to protect shipping in key strait

TT-AFP 

Published 22:45

  

A fishing boat from Yemen passes a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Archive photo from April this year. Photo: Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP/TT

Saudi Arabia has gathered 13 other countries in a defense alliance to protect shipping around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

After the Houthi movement said it would launch a naval blockade against Saudi ships in the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and announced that it plans to introduce fees for cargo ships passing through the strait, Saudi Arabia has acted.

The Saudi Defense Ministry states that together with 13 other countries – including Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait and Somalia – it will “protect freedom of navigation, international trade routes and common interests in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden”.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea with several important shipping lanes.