Houthis say eight Saudi tankers forced to reroute around Africa

The Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, claims it has forced eight Saudi oil tankers to change course and reroute around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. 

“As part of consolidating the formula ‘blockade for blockade’ and as a result of the tightening by our armed forces of the naval blockade of the Saudi enemy’s oil vessels, eight tankers were forced to change course,” the group said in a declaration published on Friday, July 31, by the rebels’ armed forces, cited by TASS. It emphasised that the rebels would continue the naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and would attack its vessels wherever they can reach them.

On July 30, Saudi Arabia and several other states announced the creation of a maritime coalition headquartered in Riyadh to protect freedom of navigation, international trade routes, and energy supplies in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. According to Qatar’s Al Jazeera television channel, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Qatar, the Comoros, Kuwait, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, and Türkiye joined the alliance.

On July 20, Ansar Allah military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the imposition of a maritime navigation ban against Saudi Arabia. In response, on July 21 the Saudi-led Arab coalition said it had begun implementing measures to protect commercial vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The rebels later said they had carried out strikes using missiles and drones against two Saudi oil tankers in response to violations of the declared naval blockade. Saudi authorities confirmed a strike on the tanker Encelia, noting that all crew members were safe.

In response, the Arab coalition launched strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah province. On July 25, the rebels said they had attacked facilities of the oil and gas company Saudi Aramco in the port cities of Jizan and Yanbu using missiles and drones.

By Tamilla Hasanova