Red Sea Chokepoint Seizes Up as Houthi Embargo Throttles Bab el-Mandeb Traffic

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait has collapsed to its lowest level in months after Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations, deepening a two-front squeeze on the maritime arteries that feed crude to Europe and Asia and keeping freight and insurance costs elevated for owners.

Only 15 commodity vessels transited the waterway on Sunday, down 56 per cent from the 34 that crossed on 20 July, the day the Iran-aligned group first declared a maritime embargo on Saudi-linked shipping, according to Kpler data. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group struck Aramco facilities in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. Saudi Arabia briefly halted oil shipments through the lane on 26 July following attacks on two large tankers, before saying it would resume flows once coalition protection measures were in place.

The strategic stakes are considerable. Around 8 per cent of the world's oil passes through Bab el-Mandeb, and two-thirds of the roughly 6.2 million barrels a day crossing over the past two months originated in Saudi Arabia, bypassing the effectively closed Strait of Hormuz, where transit has stayed suppressed despite a pause in US-Iran strikes. Saudi crude loadings have dropped by 36 per cent as the disruption bites.

Carriers are holding to defensive routing. Hapag-Lloyd said it remains prepared to adjust routes and schedules at short notice, with most services already diverted via the Cape of Good Hope. The longer voyages tie up tonnage and sustain the elevated rates that have shaped container and tanker economics through the summer.

For European importers, the twin disruption at both Red Sea and Gulf chokepoints narrows the margin for error on energy supply as autumn contracting approaches.