Ship traffic through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait fell to just 11 vessels on Sunday after Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations, Kpler data shows. Seven of those were oil tankers, including VLCCs bound for Yanbu and Chinese ports, and several large cargoes left the Red Sea. The disruption helped push physical crude cargo prices to two‑month highs. Transit through the Strait of Hormuz also remained subdued over the weekend.
Red Sea Shipping Slows After Houthi Strikes on Saudi Oil Sites — Bab el‑Mandeb Traffic Hits Lowest Level in Months
FILE PHOTO: Boats float near the coast of Bab el-Mandeb, Yemen, April 2, 2026. REUTERS/File Photo
SINGAPORE, July 27 — Ship movements through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait fell sharply on Sunday after Yemeni Houthi forces attacked Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea coast, shipping analytics provider Kpler said on Monday. Only 11 commodity vessels transited the strait that day — the lowest daily total in months.
The disruption off Yemen's coast follows Houthi attempts to blockade Saudi exports, part of a widening U.S.‑Iran confrontation that has already weighed on flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Market responses were swift: physical crude cargo prices across the Middle East, Europe and Africa rose to two‑month highs last week.
Of the 11 vessels recorded on Sunday, seven were oil tankers. Three of those were entering the Red Sea, including two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) headed to Yanbu to load Saudi crude and a third vessel described in Kpler's data as Russian‑linked.
The four ships exiting the Red Sea included the Hong Kong‑flagged VLCC New Explorer, carrying about 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude bound for Ningbo in eastern China; a tanker with roughly 1 million barrels of Russian crude for China; and a tanker loaded with about 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude destined for Pakistan. Another Hong Kong‑flagged VLCC, New Pearl, carrying about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude, was also reported exiting via Bab el‑Mandeb en route to Zhoushan — the fourth Chinese supertanker to depart since the Houthis declared a naval blockade.
Associated Maritime Hong Kong, which manages New Explorer and New Pearl, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside office hours.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites owned by Saudi state oil company Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday.
Strait of Hormuz
Transit through the Strait of Hormuz also remained muted over the weekend, with fewer than 10 commodity vessels recorded each day. Kpler showed seven transits on Sunday, including three Iranian‑linked oil products tankers that exited the Gulf.
On Saturday Kpler logged only three vessels passing the strait with their transponders switched off: a VLCC heading to Qatar to load oil, a liquefied petroleum gas tanker bound for Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates to take on cargo, and a tanker carrying Qatari naphtha en route to Japan. On Friday, seven vessels transited — mostly exiting the Gulf — including two VLCCs carrying crude from Iraq and the UAE and a tanker loaded with fuel oil.
Analysts say continued Houthi operations and vessel rerouting could keep freight and crude premiums elevated while insurers and charterers reassess route risk in the Red Sea and Gulf approaches.
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