If the Red Sea Landscape Changes… Is Sudan Ready?

Adel Al-Rifai Abulhasan
Tensions ease and intensify, but the Red Sea does not wait for anyone… So, has Sudan prepared its ports, coastline, infrastructure, and maritime capabilities to receive ships and frigates and protect its interests when the landscape changes?
Major events may take place far from Sudan, or close to it, without us having any hand in them or being a party to them. That does not, however, prevent their repercussions from reaching us. Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean ease and intensify from time to time. The region may appear calm at one moment, only for tensions to resurface and escalate, potentially signalling major developments at any time. Maritime routes are interconnected, and what happens in the eastern Mediterranean, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait can affect the Red Sea, shipping, trade and energy, as well as the security of Sudanese ports and coastline.
The eastern Mediterranean matters to Sudan because of its links to trade routes and our exports and imports, particularly to Europe. As for the Strait of Hormuz, despite its importance, some of its routes may have alternatives. We should therefore view developments through the lens of Sudan’s interests, its geographical position, and the nature of its trade.
This is where the Prudence Principle comes in: if a development could have a significant impact, preparing for it becomes a duty, even if we are not a party to it. A responsible state does not wait for a crisis to begin thinking; it prepares in advance.
The relevant authorities must not merely monitor events, but turn monitoring into an operational system: information must be collected, analysed, and linked to the direction of events, while benefiting from cooperation and information-sharing with counterpart agencies in friendly countries. Developments in the eastern Mediterranean—in tensions, interests and alliances—should be viewed through a Sudanese lens: What do they mean for the Red Sea? What could they mean for our ports, our trade, and our security?
The Sudanese coastline is not merely a maritime boundary; it is Sudan’s gateway to the world and its artery for foreign trade. Our exports pass through it, our imports enter through it, and it is connected to food and energy supplies and to the stability of the economy. Developing and protecting it is therefore simultaneously a security, economic and national issue.
From here, the question can be turned into a clear action plan:
First: Ports and Infrastructure
Improve the efficiency of ports, berths, and maritime services, and ensure they can receive commercial and naval vessels in accordance with technical and legal requirements, while providing refuelling, provisioning, maintenance, and support services.
Second: Monitoring and Early Warning
Establish an integrated system to monitor the coastline and maritime traffic, based on radar, communications, tracking systems, and maritime information, linking relevant authorities through a shared operational picture.
Third: Human and Maritime Capabilities
Develop personnel, enhance training, and benefit from joint maritime exercises and drills with friendly countries to improve capabilities, transfer expertise, and familiarise personnel with the latest technologies.
Fourth: Agreements and International Cooperation
Review existing maritime agreements and understandings, identify which can be activated, and turn them into practical cooperation that serves the Sudanese Navy, ports, trade, and the economy.
Fifth: Survey and Exploration
Conduct a comprehensive marine survey using modern technologies to determine what lies beneath our waters and seabed in terms of resources, from minerals, raw materials and fisheries to the potential for oil and gas.
Sixth: Protection of Resources and Facilities
Establish a system to protect future maritime resources and facilities, covering production, transportation, and export, and address maritime, environmental, and operational risks from the discovery stage rather than after production begins.
Seventh: Turning the Red Sea into an Opportunity-Generating Economy
Ports and maritime and logistics services, exploration, mining, energy, fisheries and related industries should not be treated as separate files. Rather, they can form links in a single economic chain, beginning with resources and ending with projects, production, added value, employment opportunities and new expertise for the people of Sudan.
The ongoing war in Sudan has taught us a lesson that must not be wasted. It has exposed strengths and weaknesses, and demonstrated the importance of training and capacity-building, electronic warfare, reconnaissance and tracking, autonomous and unmanned systems, and the rapid development of the tools of warfare. These lessons should therefore translate into a practical review of capabilities, needs, and priorities, rather than becoming mere memories of the war.
This, in turn, opens the way to establishing an integrated national system for managing the Red Sea and the Sudanese coastline, bringing together all relevant authorities and operating under a unified vision while coordinating information, responsibilities, and priorities. In this way, the Red Sea would become a comprehensive national portfolio combining security, trade, investment, exploration, resource protection, port development and maritime capabilities.
Such a system does not require waiting for ideal circumstances. It can begin with a comprehensive assessment of the current situation, followed by identifying gaps, setting priorities, and developing specific projects with timetables, clearly defined responsibilities, funding sources and measurable indicators. This would enable Sudan to move from talking about the Red Sea to acting on it.
The objective is not simply to prepare for war, nor to wait for a potential crisis. It is to build a national capability that functions in peacetime, remains operational during crises, and protects Sudanese trade, resources and interests under all circumstances.
If we want what is best for Sudan and for future generations, the Red Sea must form part of a broader vision for Sudan’s renaissance: genuine investment in people, resources and ports; more efficient institutions; an economy that generates opportunities; and a state that understands the value of its geographical position and resources and works to turn them into added value.
We are not required to know what will happen, nor to become involved in others’ conflicts. We have no control over their course or the ability to prevent them. But we can understand what we need, plan for it and build it before events force it upon us.
The question today is therefore simple and clear: whether it happens or not, will Sudan be ready?

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=18523