Red Sea Shipping Disrupted Amid Ongoing Middle East Conflict

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has slowed significantly after Yemen's Ansar Allah attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast. On Sunday, only eleven commodity vessels passed through the strait, the lowest level in months.

The disruption is part of a broader conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which has led to a naval blockade and impacted global oil supply. The US-Iran conflict has already limited oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, causing prices to jump to two-month highs last week.

Seven of the vessels that passed through Bab el-Mandeb on Sunday were oil tankers, including three very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to the port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude. The Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude for eastern China's Ningbo port, was one of them.

Meanwhile, fewer than ten commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily over the weekend despite a pause in US-Iran strikes. Three Iranian-linked oil products tankers exited the strait on Sunday.