Bab el-Mandeb Ship Traffic Plummets Amid Yemen Attacks

Ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has plummeted to its lowest level in months following recent attacks by Yemen's Ansar Allah on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. According to Kepler Institute data, only 11 cargo ships passed through this strategic passage on Sunday, a stark decline from previous periods.

Among these vessels were seven oil tankers, with three entering the Red Sea and two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) en route to the Saudi port of Yanbu to load oil. One other vessel reportedly had ties to Russia. Four ships also exited the Red Sea that day, including a giant oil tanker carrying about two million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the UAE destined for Ningbo port in China.

The reduction in maritime traffic has disrupted the energy supply chain, driving physical crude oil cargo prices in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa to their highest levels in two months last week. Yahya Saree, spokesperson for Yemen's armed forces, stated that Ansar Allah targeted facilities linked to Saudi state-owned Aramco in the cities of Jazan and Yanbu on Saturday.