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Tanker traffic through Bab el-Mandeb hits multi-month low
Only 11 commodity tankers transited the chokepoint on Sunday, while shipping operators rerouted routes toward the Suez Canal after Houthi threats to Saudi oil shipments.
Tanker traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell to a multi-month low on Sunday amid Houthi attacks and threats to Saudi oil infrastructure on the Red Sea coast, Reuters reported, citing Kpler shipping data.
Kpler data showed just 11 tankers carrying commodities transited the chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea on Sunday, the lowest level in months. Traffic began slowing about a week earlier after Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen announced a blockade on Saudi shipments and threatened strikes on tankers.
According to the data cited by Reuters, the Houthis carried out several attacks on vessels last week, including actions targeting two Saudi oil tankers. As a result, some Saudi and Western ship operators reportedly turned north toward the Suez Canal or made U-turns before previously planned inbound moves through Bab el-Mandeb.
Of the 11 ships transiting on Sunday, seven were oil tankers, four outbound and three inbound. Two inbound very large crude carriers were en route to the Saudi port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude, one inbound vessel was linked to Russia, three outbound tankers carried Saudi, UAE, and Russian crude to China, and one outbound tanker was laden with Saudi crude for Pakistan.
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