Gulf shipping slumps as Houthi claims of Saudi tanker attacks

Shipping data showed that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell significantly compared with the previous day. According to maritime analytics

NEW DELHI: Commercial shipping through two of the world’s most strategic maritime routes declined sharply on Wednesday after Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed it had launched missile attacks on Saudi oil tankers, raising fresh concerns over security in the Gulf.

Shipping data showed that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell significantly compared with the previous day. According to maritime analytics firm Kpler, only two vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday—a Panama-flagged coal carrier entering the waterway and a Marshall Islands-flagged commodity vessel departing. The previous day, eight vessels had transited the route.

Before the outbreak of the US-Israel conflict with Iran and Tehran’s subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway typically handled between 130 and 140 ships daily, making it one of the busiest energy transit routes in the world.

Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait also dropped sharply. Kpler data showed that only one Bahamas-flagged dry bulk carrier crossed the chokepoint on Wednesday, compared with 20 vessels the day before.

The Houthis announced that they had fired missiles at a Saudi oil tanker near the Red Sea port of Yanbu and targeted another Saudi tanker in the Gulf of Aden. Saudi authorities had not confirmed either attack at the time of reporting.

The Iran-aligned group has maintained what it describes as a naval blockade against Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea since last month, saying the move is a response to an alleged Saudi siege on Yemen. Riyadh has rejected those allegations.

The latest claims have heightened concerns over the safety of commercial navigation in the region, where maritime trade remains vulnerable to escalating geopolitical tensions.