Ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell sharply on Sunday, July 26, after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, according to shipping data from Kpler reported on Monday, July 27. Eleven commodity vessels passed through the strait that day, marking the lowest level in months.

Seven of these vessels were oil tankers, with three entering the Red Sea. Two of the tankers are very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to the port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude, while the third is linked to Russia. Four vessels exited the Red Sea, including the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude destined for eastern China's Ningbo port. Other vessels carried Russian crude for China and Saudi crude for Pakistan.

Another Hong Kong-flagged VLCC, New Pearl, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude, also exited the Red Sea via Bab el-Mandeb for eastern China's Zhoushan port. It was the fourth Chinese supertanker to leave since the Houthis declared a naval blockade.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree stated that the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday, July 25.

Meanwhile, fewer than 10 commodity vessels passed daily through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, despite a pause in strikes between the U.S. and Iran in the Middle East.

The disruption in Red Sea shipping has contributed to a rise in physical crude cargo prices across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, reaching two-month highs last week. The Tehran-aligned Houthis aim to blockade Saudi exports, expanding the ongoing US-Iran conflict that has already affected oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Sources