Ship traffic plunges through Bab el-Mandeb after Houthi strikes on Saudi oil sites

Ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell to its lowest level in months on Sunday after Yemen’s Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz remained severely restricted over the weekend, shipping data showed Monday. Only 11 commodity vessels passed through Bab el-Mandeb on Sunday, according to data from maritime analytics firm Kpler. Traffic off Yemen’s coast has been disrupted since last week by the Iran-backed Houthis, who have threatened to blockade Saudi exports as they widen their involvement in the U.S.-Iran conflict. The fighting has already sharply curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Seven of the vessels that crossed Bab el-Mandeb on Sunday were oil tankers, including three that entered the Red Sea. Two were very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, sailing toward the Saudi port of Yanbu to load crude oil. The third was a Russian-linked vessel, the data showed. Four vessels exited the Red Sea on Sunday, including the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer, which was carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude to Ningbo in eastern China. Another tanker was transporting 1 million barrels of Russian crude to China, while a third carried about 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude destined for Pakistan. The New Explorer was the third Chinese-bound VLCC to leave the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb. Associated Maritime Hong Kong, the vessel’s manager, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group struck facilities belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. Hormuz traffic remains low Fewer than 10 commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on each day of the weekend, despite a pause in U.S. and Iranian strikes across the Middle East, according to Kpler. Seven vessels transited the strait on Sunday, including three Iran-linked oil-product tankers that sailed out of the Gulf. Only three vessels passed through on Saturday, all with their transponders switched off. They included a VLCC heading to Qatar to load crude oil, a liquefied petroleum gas tanker sailing to the Emirati port of Ruwais and a tanker carrying Qatari naphtha to Japan. Seven vessels crossed the strait on Friday, most of them leaving the Gulf. They included two VLCCs carrying crude from Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a tanker transporting fuel oil.