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Saudi Arabia joins International Alliance for Protection of Maritime Navigation

September 19, 2019 at 2:02 am

Royal Saudi Navy, 10 May 2019 [Mattbuck/Wikipedia]

Saudi Arabia announced, Wednesday, it’s joining of the International Alliance for the Safety and Protection of Maritime Navigation and Insurance of the Safety of Seaways.

The official SPA news agency quoted a Saudi Ministry official as saying that the alliance aims to “protect merchant ships by providing safe navigation to ensure freedom of maritime navigation and international trade and protect the interests of the alliance member states to enhance the security and safety of merchant ships passing through the seaway.”

The official pointed out that “the area of ​​operations of the International Alliance for Safety and Protection of Maritime Navigation in the Gulf covers the Strait of Hormuz, Bab El-Mandeb, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Gulf.”

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The source also clarified that the Kingdom’s decision to join the Alliance is “in support of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threats to maritime navigation and international trade, ensure global energy security and the flow of energy supplies to the global economy, and contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security.”

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, was the first to announce the idea of forming the Alliance on 9 July after a series of attacks on six tankers and the downing of a US reconnaissance aircraft by Iranian air defence aircraft near the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington is reaching out at various levels, to officials from 62 countries, to discuss the formation of a military-security alliance to secure international freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea.

Some countries like Australia, the UK, Israel, and Bahrain have announced joining the US-led alliance to protect ships in the Gulf Region.