Commercial shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell to its lowest level in months on Sunday after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants exchanged strikes with Saudi Arabia, according to shipping intelligence firm Kpler.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, is one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, controlling roughly 10% of the world’s total energy flows and has become increasingly significant as Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Kpler, only 11 commodity vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb on Sunday, marking the lowest daily traffic through the waterway in several months.
The decline followed Houthi strikes on Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea coast on Saturday. The group said its blockade of Saudi ports would remain in place, describing the attacks as retaliation for recent Saudi strikes on Houthi-controlled infrastructure in Yemen.
Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb had increased last week as shipping operators sought an alternative route for energy cargoes while the Strait of Hormuz remained largely gridlocked by the ongoing regional conflict.
Supply disruptions worldwide due to security tensions across both strategic waterways have led to a strong rise in global oil prices last week, resulting in shockwaves worldwide. While crude prices retreated over the weekend after the US and Iran paused military operations, the uncertainty regarding diplomatic breakthrough continues to plague energy markets worldwide.
