Have the Houthis blocked the Red Sea to marine traffic? | Explained
The story so far: Marine traffic transiting the Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea has fallen after Houthis struck Saudi oil installations along the Red
The story so far: Marine traffic transiting the Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea has fallen after Houthis struck Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast on Sunday (July 26, 2026). Reports said only 11 vessels passed through the strait. On Sunday (July 26, 2026), the Houthis attacked the Aramco refinery in Jizan and export facilities at Yanbu, both considered vital installations. Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that âa number of sensitive targets and points related to the supply and transport of crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu were targeted by several drones in response to the Saudi enemyâs drone incursions into Yemeni airspaceâ. Traffic brought to trickle The attack follows the announcement of a blockade by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia from April 20. This has choked the flow of oil from the region, with the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz coming to a trickle and pushing up the price of crude oil. Crude prices fell on Monday (July 27, 2026) after U.S. President Donald Trumpâs said the U.S. and Iran would talk again. Reuters reported that seven oil tankers transited the Bab el-Mandeb, with three of them entering the âRed Sea.
âTwo of them are very large crude carriers heading to the port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude while the third is a Russian-linked ship,â the report said. Of the four ships that exited the Red Sea on Sunday (July 26, 2026) were three oil tankers âcarrying crude oil to China and one tanker with Saudi crude bound for Pakistan. According to data provided by marine intelligence firm Lloydâs List to The Hindu, the traffic in the Red Sea fell around July 13-14, 2026, when the Houthis launched missiles on Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of attacking an airport under its control. The attack broke a four-year truce. From around 350 transits in the strait per week, it fell below 125 by July 20. The Suez Canal transits came down from 250-plus to around 100. China takes a back step According to Lloydâs, Chinaâs largest state-owned tanker operators are âwithdrawing their very large crude carriers from Red Sea trade, prioritising safety over what many had expected would be privileged access to the waterway.â It said âoutbound vessels carrying Saudi crude oilâ have transited the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. However, the âpullback reflects a broader risk calculus at major state-owned enterprises, wher eexecutives are acutely aware that the downside of an incident far exceeds any upside from commercial gains, and ensuring nothing goes wrong has become the overriding priorityâ, the firm said.
The BriefWire