Houthi Claims Spark Shipping Chaos in Middle East

Vessel traffic at two critical chokepoints in the Middle East plummeted on Wednesday following a claim by the Houthi group that they had hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea.

The Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait saw significantly reduced vessel activity, with only two vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, down from eight the previous day, according to ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters. At the Bab el-Mandeb, just one commodity vessel passed through on Wednesday, compared to 20 on Tuesday.

The Houthi group in Yemen claimed a 'precise hit' on the Saudi oil tanker NCC WAFA north of the Red Sea off the Yambu area using several ballistic missiles. Analysts at security and vessel-tracking firms say this is the worst safety situation since the Iran war began, but market optimism suggests that oil and gas flows could rebound as Iran and Oman appear close to agreeing on joint management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the deal with Oman was 'in the final stages'. The reduced vessel traffic is likely to impact global oil supplies, but the exact extent remains unclear.