Maritime traffic in the Bab Al Mandeb strait has more than halved in the week since Houthi rebels declared an embargo on Saudi shipping, with crossings of the vital Red Sea chokepoint falling to their lowest level since the blockade began.
Only 15 commodity vessels transited the waterway on Sunday, down 56 per cent from the 34 that crossed on July 20, the day Houthi rebels first announced the “maritime embargo” on Saudi-linked ships, Kpler data shows. Nine of the vessels on Sunday were exiting the Red Sea, with six entering. Among the commodities being carried were crude oil, grain and fertiliser bound for destinations such as China, India, Pakistan and the Netherlands.
The drop in traffic came after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed attacks on Aramco facilities in the Saudi cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday, as fears of a renewed war in Yemen escalated.
The Houthis also attacked the Saudi ship NCC Masa on Friday while it was sailing in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to the vessel.
A tanker operating in the southern Red Sea also reported an incident involving an unknown projectile that splashed into the water close to it, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ship traffic across the Strait of Hormuz almost doubled on Sunday, with the Iranian shadow fleet leading the crossings in the key waterway in the Arabian Gulf.
This came after the US and Iran announced a pause in fighting after two weeks of strikes that led oil prices to surge past $100 per barrel last week amid supply disruption concerns in the Middle East.
Latest Kpler data also shows 11 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, including 10 commodity vessels carrying crude oil or chemicals.
Six crossed the strait on Saturday after a dozen had done so the previous day, the data shows. Many others went dark on unknown routes to avoid detection while sailing.
More than 100 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz daily before the Iran war broke out on February 28, with tankers carrying about 20 million barrels per day of crude oil.
The numbers fell drastically after the onset of the war, but picked up after a preliminary agreement between Iran and the US to stop fighting last month. However, renewed fighting last week led to a reduction in traffic passing through the channel, before it picked up on Sunday following another pause in fighting.
Many shipping companies are avoiding both straits as a precaution.
German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz currently play only a limited role in its overall network, as the vast majority of its services continue to be routed round the Cape of Good Hope after leaving the Arabian Gulf.
“At the same time, we remain prepared to adjust routes and schedules at short notice should circumstances require it,” a Hapag-Lloyd representative told The National. “Our teams remain in close contact with customers to provide clarity and identify the best possible solution for their respective cargo.”
