Bab al-Mandeb
Red Sea strait between Yemen and Djibouti, closed to Saudi shipping by Houthi radio warnings.
Bab al-Mandeb, the 29km Red Sea chokepoint, closed to Saudi-linked shipping on 20 July when Houthi radio warnings turned back six tankers, then saw the Encelia and Layla struck two days later as Brent crude topped $100.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Why did six tankers turn back from Bab al-Mandeb without a shot fired?
Timeline for Bab al-Mandeb
Mentioned in: Brent clears $100 first time since May
European Oil MarketsHouthi blockade cuts Saudi loadings 36%
European Oil MarketsBrent tops $100 as the reroute closes
Iran Conflict 2026Houthis fire on the Saudi tanker Encelia
Iran Conflict 2026Houthis claim a second tanker, the Layla
Iran Conflict 2026Background
Bab al-Mandeb is a roughly 30km-wide strait separating Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea, carrying an estimated 10% of global seaborne oil and around a quarter of the world's container traffic, making it the third-busiest oil chokepoint on Earth. The only alternative, sailing around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adds roughly 60% to a voyage's length.
Houthi forces have controlled the strait's eastern approach since Yemen's civil war, and the group ran a sustained campaign against shipping there from 2023 to 2025 that taught owners to reroute on threat alone. Iran formally treated the strait as a second chokepoint alongside Hormuz from 1 June 2026, formalising months of prior Houthi threats.
That reputation for closing the strait through deterrence rather than direct engagement remains its defining feature, and it leaves Europe exposed given that over a quarter of Asia-Europe container traffic depends on this one crossing.
The strait closes without a shot fired
A single radio broadcast on 20 July did what missiles had not yet needed to: six vessels bound for the strait, among them a Chinese VLCC, reversed course within 48 hours rather than risk the crossing, none of them fired upon. Two days later the threat became fact when Houthi missiles and drones struck the tanker Encelia inside the strait itself, with a second claimed hit on the Layla unconfirmed by Riyadh.
Traffic through the 29km narrows fell fast: seven ships diverted for the Cape of Good Hope within a day of the strikes, and Saudi crude loadings that depend on the crossing dropped 36% in a fortnight. The strait now sits closed by reputation as much as by force, a repeat of the pattern it set against Israeli shipping in 2023.
Reference
How much global trade passes through Bab al-Mandeb?
Did the Houthis close Bab al-Mandeb in 2023 or 2024?
Where is the Bab al-Mandeb strait?
What is the alternate route if Bab al-Mandeb closes?
How wide is the Bab al-Mandeb strait?
Why did the Houthis blockade Saudi shipping in July 2026?
What happens to oil prices if Bab al-Mandeb is blocked?
Has Iran blocked Bab al-Mandeb?
Which ships were turned back from Bab al-Mandeb in July 2026?
