Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reiterated his call for Red Sea access at his swearing-in ceremony in parliament on Oct. 5, local time. According to Al Jazeera, Abiy said securing a port is essential to the advance of Ethiopian civilization despite conflict in the northern Tigray region and regional tensions.

Ethiopia became landlocked when Eritrea gained independence in the early 1990s. Though home to more than 100 million people, it relies on neighboring Djibouti's ports for most of its trade.

The demand comes as relations sour with Eritrea, which Ethiopia suspects of backing opposition forces, and with Egypt and Sudan, with whom it is at odds over a Nile dam. Fighting between federal forces and armed groups demanding the government's ouster has also flared again.

With Yemen's civil war and maritime security problems overlapping, the southern Red Sea has become one of the world's most sensitive waterways. There are fears that if Ethiopia's quest for the sea turns into armed conflict, the whole Horn of Africa could be destabilized.

Ethiopia has worked to expand its logistics network, including a railway linking Addis Ababa and Djibouti built under China's Belt and Road Initiative, and its efforts to widen its route to the sea are expected to continue.