Ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait fell to 11 commodity vessels on July 26, the lowest level in months, following attacks by Yemeni Houthis on Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast [1, 2, 3, 4]. Seven of the vessels passing that day were oil tankers, including two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to Yanbu to load Saudi crude and a Russian-linked ship entering the Red Sea [1, 2, 3, 4].
Four vessels exited the Red Sea via Bab el-Mandeb on July 26, including the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude to Ningbo, a tanker with 1 million barrels of Russian crude to China, a tanker with about 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude to Pakistan, and the VLCC New Pearl carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude to Zhoushan [1, 2, 3, 4].
Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said the group "struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on July 25" [2]. The Houthis, aligned with Tehran, aim to blockade Saudi oil exports by disrupting traffic through the Red Sea, expanding the US-Iran conflict that has already reduced oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz [1, 2, 3, 4].
The shipping disruptions pushed crude cargo prices in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa to two-month highs last week [1, 2]. Overnight traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, another key Gulf chokepoint, remained low with seven vessels transiting on July 26. Of these, three were Iranian-linked oil product tankers leaving the strait [1, 2, 3, 4].
On July 25, only three vessels passed through the strait with their transponders off, including a VLCC heading to Qatar, a liquefied petroleum gas tanker bound for the UAE’s Ruwais port, and a tanker carrying Qatari naphtha to Japan [2, 3, 4]. Earlier on July 24, seven vessels passed through the strait, mostly exiting the Gulf, including two VLCCs loaded with crude from Iraq and the UAE [4].
The drop in vessel movements at Bab el-Mandeb on July 26 and the sustained low traffic through the Strait of Hormuz show continued tension in Gulf shipping lanes amid ongoing regional conflict. Oil flows through these chokepoints will be closely watched in coming days for signs of further disruption [1, 2, 3, 4].
