Shipping via Bab el-Mandeb declines after Houthi attack on Saudi facilities

Commercial shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait dropped sharply on July 26 after Yemen's Houthi movement attacked Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea coast, while vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained subdued despite a pause in fighting between the United States and Iran, according to Kpler shipping data.

Only 11 commodity vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Sunday, marking the lowest daily total in several months, Caliber.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Shipping in the Red Sea has faced increasing disruption since last week as the Iran-backed Houthis intensified attacks aimed at blocking Saudi oil exports, broadening the regional impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has already disrupted energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

The disruptions pushed prices for physical crude cargoes from the Middle East, Europe and Africa to their highest levels in two months last week.

According to Kpler, seven of the vessels passing through Bab el-Mandeb on Sunday were oil tankers, including three entering the Red Sea. Two were very large crude carriers (VLCCs) bound for the Saudi port of Yanbu to load crude, while the third was a Russian-linked vessel.

Four tankers exited the Red Sea the same day, including the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude to Ningbo in eastern China. The other vessels included a tanker transporting 1 million barrels of Russian crude to China and another carrying around 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude to Pakistan.

Another Hong Kong-flagged VLCC, New Pearl, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude, was also leaving the Red Sea for Zhoushan in eastern China, becoming the fourth Chinese supertanker to depart since the Houthis announced a naval blockade.

Associated Maritime Hong Kong, which manages New Explorer and New Pearl, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside normal business hours.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on July 25 that the group had struck facilities belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu.

Meanwhile, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz also remained below normal over the weekend. Fewer than 10 commodity vessels crossed the strategic waterway each day, according to Kpler.

Seven vessels transited the strait on Sunday, including three Iranian-linked oil products tankers departing the Gulf.

On July 25, only three vessels were recorded passing through with their tracking transponders switched off. They included a VLCC heading to Qatar to load crude oil, a liquefied petroleum gas tanker bound for the UAE's Ruwais port and a tanker transporting Qatari naphtha to Japan.

On July 24, seven vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz, most of them leaving the Gulf, including two VLCCs carrying crude from Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a tanker loaded with fuel oil.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov