Saudi Arabia Leads New Maritime Defense Coalition To Secure Red Sea ShippingBy The Media Line StaffSaudi Arabia and 13 founding nations announced the creation of the Multinational Maritime Defense Coalition, a Saudi-led security initiative intended to protect commercial shipping, energy supply lines, and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden, following recent threats to maritime traffic. The Defense Ministry said Saudi Arabia will serve as the alliance’s founding and leading state while hosting its headquarters. The coalition’s founding members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia. On July 20, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea and have since claimed a series of attacks targeting Saudi-linked shipping. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on what it described as Houthi military facilities in Yemen’s Hodeidah that it said were being used to threaten commercial shipping.