Egypt and Saudi Arabia reportedly plan to form a joint naval force for the Red Sea, a move that highlights the two nations' intention to take the protection of this crucial maritime avenue into their own hands.
The force's formation was discussed during a recent meeting of the commanders of the two countries' navies in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria, home to Egypt's oldest port and the main headquarters of its navy.
The specifics of the formation of the new naval force and the mechanisms of how and when it will start operating are still being discussed.
It will, however, contribute to securing the Red Sea against growing threats to navigation in it, especially because of Houthi attacks, capitalising on the strategic location of the two countries, analysts in Cairo say.
"Naval cooperation between the two countries is becoming increasingly important at present, particularly in the light of threats to navigation in the Red Sea," retired Egyptian army general, Mohamed al-Ghabari, told The New Arab.
"This cooperation will prove to be a potent tool against these threats, given the capabilities the two countries possess and their strategic locations," he added.
The force's formation reflects both countries' keenness on not aligning publicly with Western or Israeli actions against the Houthis amid Israel's current genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have formally rejected to join the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition against the Houthi in December 2023.
Meanwhile, this new cooperation builds on a history of joint naval exercises, such as the Red Wave series, including the Red Wave-7 in May 2024, and the Morgan 16 naval drills in 2020. Among other things, these exercises focused on improving interoperability, countering regional threats, and ensuring the freedom of navigation.
Shared concerns
Red Sea security came at the centre of discussions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia several times in the past years, including during a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo on 15 October 2024.
These discussions occur within the framework of broader efforts to enhance maritime security cooperation in the region.
Primary motivations for this joint force stem from the two countries' shared strategic, economic, and security imperatives in the Red Sea, a vital global choke point that handles about 12% of world trade and 30% of the global container traffic and connects the Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The two countries have been equally affected by Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which have disrupted navigation in this vital maritime waterway, with dozens of nations rerouting their ships around Africa, a development that caused global shipping costs to spike dramatically.
The attacks have also slashed revenues from the Suez Canal, a major currency earner for Egypt, by up to 50% (from $9.4 billion annually pre-2023), exacerbating the Arab country's debt crisis.
"Joint action by Egypt and Saudi Arabia is set to serve the national security interests of the two states, especially in the Red Sea," political researcher Ahmed Abdel Meguid told TNA.
"Unrest in the Red Sea has affected the Egyptian economy very negatively by scarring commercial ships away from the Suez Canal, a vital world trade artery and the shortest cut between Europe and Asia," he added
Saudi Arabia has a Red Sea coastline that extends over 1,811 kilometres. The oil-rich country's Vision for 2030 relies on Red Sea stability for mega-projects like NEOM (a $500 billion futuristic city with ports and tourism) and The Red Sea tourism initiative, which could be derailed by current disruptions.
The joint force with Egypt also supports Saudi-led initiatives like the 2020 Council of Arab and African Countries of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which aims to foster multilateral cooperation while addressing these vulnerabilities, analysts said.
Fine line
The new force will allow Egypt and Saudi Arabia to assert their regional leadership, exchange expertise, and plan joint operations, without external dependencies, while potentially expanding to other Red Sea littoral states, such as Jordan; Sudan; Djibouti, and Yemen.
This aligns with Egypt's recent command of Combined Maritime Forces' Task Force 153 in April 2025, emphasising Arab-led security.
The new joint force will most probably patrol and secure the Red Sea, focusing on deterring non-state actors, especially the Houthis, without relying on US-led operations.
The Iran-backed Houthis have intensified drone and missile strikes on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.
However, in operating the force, Egypt and Saudi Arabia will be walking a very fine line, analysts said.
The two countries have been prioritising de-escalation with the Houthis, each for its own different reasons.
Saudi Arabia has pursued a ceasefire with the Houthis (brokered via Oman) and détente with Iran to end its 2015-led war.
Scarred by the disastrous consequences of its Yemen intervention in the 1960s, Egypt also favours diplomacy with the Yemeni militia over direct combat.
Cairo has been trying to use its rapprochement with Tehran, part of a wider regional reconciliation drive that started with Saudi normalization with Iran in 2023, to push Iran to pressure the Houthis to suspend their Red Sea attacks.
Nevertheless, in potentially acting against the Houthis, the two countries can be seen as aligning and acting on behalf of Israel, analysts said. This opens the door for a major public backlash within the two countries, especially with Israel escalating its atrocities in Gaza and is clearly taking measures to annex major parts of the occupied West Bank and therefore burying Palestinian statehood dreams, they added.
"This is why there is an urgent need for caution, especially with the Houthis declaring that their operations in the Red Sea only target Israel and Israeli ships," Abdel Meguid said.
The same action can also imperil the two countries' relations with Iran, threatening to derail their fledgling reconciliation with the Islamic Republic and do away with their policy of containment with it, especially if the new force is perceived as only being formed to counter the Houthis, like-minded experts warned.