Those who signed
According to the Saudi defence ministry, the alliance will be headquartered in Riyadh, and alongside Saudi Arabia the signatories include Türkiye, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Djibouti, Somalia, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sudan and the Comoros. A European Union delegation also attended the meeting. The statement defines the alliance's work as intelligence sharing, joint exercises and joint maritime operations.[1]
The list has to be read together with the geography. The statement itself defines the area to be protected as the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden; Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Egypt sit along that line. The signature list reads like a map of exposure: the states that cannot sail away from those waters are the ones signing.[1]
Those who did not sign
The United Arab Emirates and Oman are not among the signatories, despite facing the same threat in the same waters. The statement leaves the door open for other countries to accede to the charter once they complete their national procedures, so the list was not announced as a closed one.[1]
Whether that clause works will be visible soon. If at least one country's accession is announced by 30 September, the open door is functioning as a real mechanism for joining; if nobody is added, the core of 14 founders remains the whole of the alliance.[1]
What the list says
A structure that is open to accession and built on intelligence sharing and exercises is designed to be joined later. That design leaves a waiting room for states that want the protection without having their names read out today. Another explanation is available: the two absences may reflect a different judgement about the structure's design, or about where it is headquartered.[1]
The balance of the first day therefore cannot be kept in ships. What exists today is a list of those who accepted having their names written under a statement. An alliance's capability is measured later; who gave their name is settled on day one, and that fact says something on its own.[1]