Bab el-Mandeb Red Sea ship traffic drops after Houthi attacks on Saudi oil sites

Bab el-Mandeb shipping traffic dropped sharply on Sunday after Yemen’s Houthi movement attacked Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea coast, while vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz remained low, according to shipping data from Kpler.

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The data showed that only 11 commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Sunday, marking the lowest daily traffic recorded in several months.

The disruption followed Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure. The group has said it aims to block Saudi exports, widening tensions linked to the broader US-Iran conflict that has already disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

As a result, physical crude prices in the Middle East, Europe and Africa climbed to two-month highs last week.

Oil tankers continue limited transit

Seven of the vessels passing through Bab el-Mandeb were oil tankers. Three entered the Red Sea, including two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to Yanbu to load Saudi crude. Another vessel had links to Russia, according to Kpler.

Meanwhile, four tankers exited the Red Sea. They included the Hong Kong-flagged New Explorer, carrying two million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude to China’s Ningbo port. Another tanker transported one million barrels of Russian crude to China, while a third carried around 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude destined for Pakistan.

In addition, the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Pearl, carrying two million barrels of Saudi crude, also departed the Red Sea for China’s Zhoushan port.

Hormuz traffic stays below normal

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz also remained well below normal over the weekend.

Kpler data showed that fewer than 10 commodity vessels transited the waterway each day despite the recent pause in US and Iranian military strikes.

Only seven vessels passed through the strait on Sunday, including three Iranian-linked oil product tankers leaving the Gulf.

On Saturday, just three vessels crossed the strait with their transponders switched off. They included a VLCC heading to Qatar, an LPG carrier bound for the UAE’s Ruwais port, and a tanker transporting Qatari naphtha to Japan.

On Friday, seven vessels transited the strait, including VLCCs carrying crude from Iraq and the UAE.