Commodity vessel transits through the Bab al-Mandeb strait fell to 11 on 26 July, the lowest level in months, after Yemen's Houthi movement attacked Saudi Aramco installations along the Red Sea coast. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck Aramco sites in Jizan and Yanbu on 25 July, following the rebels' declared naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
Of the vessels passing through Bab al-Mandeb, seven were oil tankers, including two very large crude carriers heading to Yanbu to load Saudi crude and one Russian-linked ship. Four vessels exited the Red Sea, among them the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude to Ningbo, China.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz also remained subdued, with fewer than 10 commodity vessels transiting daily over the weekend. Saree additionally claimed the Houthis shot down a Saudi drone on 26 July.