AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The vessels had loaded crude at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu before turning back towards the Suez Canal instead of continuing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Indian Ocean, signalling the immediate impact of the Houthi announcement on commercial shipping.
Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to target ships transporting Saudi oil, raising fresh concerns over the security of one of the world’s busiest energy corridors.
The vessels had loaded crude at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu before turning back towards the Suez Canal instead of continuing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Indian Ocean, signalling the immediate impact of the Houthi announcement on commercial shipping.
The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, including the Red Sea coastline, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday. In a letter to shipping companies, the group warned it would attack any vessel loading or unloading Saudi crude, opening a potential new front in the regional conflict that has spread across the Middle East since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.
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