Houthi Attacks Risk Sinking Gulf Nations' Choke-Point Workarounds
The Houthi rebel group in Yemen has resumed attacks on vessels in the Red Sea after a nine-month pause, directly targeting Saudi Arabia. On July 22, 2026, Houthis launched an attack on a vessel, followed by another strike on a floating liquefied natural gas storage facility in Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta on July 29.
The attacks have expanded the zone of risk for shipping to two other maritime choke points: the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, and the Suez Canal and pipeline links between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Saudi Arabia's strategy of redirecting oil exports away from the Strait of Hormuz through its western ports is now at risk.
During the first phase of the Iran war from February 28 to June 17, the Houthi front in Yemen remained relatively quiet. However, the group has been hit hard by a series of Israeli strikes, including one that killed its prime minister and nine members of his cabinet in August 2025.
The renewed flare-up began when a Houthi delegation flew from Sanaa to Tehran to attend the funeral of Iran's former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The delegation attempted to return on July 12 but was forced to divert to the port city of Hodeidah due to Saudi airstrikes.
The attacks have put at risk Saudi Arabia's plan B for oil exports, which involved redirecting oil through its western ports after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked in March 2026. The East-West pipeline from Abqaiq to Yanbu on the Red Sea was operating at full capacity of 7 million barrels per day in May.
The Houthi targeting of vessels in the Red Sea could lead to similar restrictions on shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, rendering a second regional choke point effectively inoperable. This would necessitate a workaround to the workaround, adding logistical friction and costs to journey times and associated costs to destinations in Asia.
An expanded conflict zone could wreak havoc on energy and commodity supply chains already stretched thin by the loss of oil production in the spring. The Houthis may be seeking leverage over Saudi Arabia to gain political and economic concessions, but the Saudis too have shown greater assertiveness in their conduct of airstrikes.