Houthis Strike Saudi Tanker in Territorial Waters, Escalating Maritime Campaign

The Houthi militant group has expanded its maritime attacks to target vessels in Saudi territorial waters, marking a significant escalation of their campaign. On August 5, NCC WAFA, a Saudi-flagged oil products tanker operated by Aramco Trading, was struck off the coast of Yanbu in the northern Red Sea, hundreds of kilometers from the declared Bab el-Mandeb blockade zone.

The strike is notable because NCC WAFA was not attempting to breach any chokepoint and was running dark on a routine intra-Saudi coastal run. This suggests that the Houthis have adapted their targeting to follow tankers that divert north to avoid the blockade, making route avoidance an insufficient mitigation strategy.

This attack marks the eighth Saudi oil tanker claimed struck since the July 22 blockade began. The Houthi statement explicitly tied the strike to Saudi tankers rerouting north and vowed continued escalating strikes in the northern Red Sea regardless of consequences.