Kpler data showed vessel movements through the two Gulf chokepoints slowed sharply from a day earlier as the Houthis claimed missile attacks on Saudi oil tankers.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait fell sharply on Wednesday, according to Kpler, underscoring disruption at two of the region’s most important maritime chokepoints. Just two vessels transited Hormuz, down from eight a day earlier, while only one commodity ship crossed Bab-el-Mandeb, compared with 20 the previous day. Reuters said the decline comes after Iran closed Hormuz following the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, a route that had typically handled about 130 to 140 ships before the conflict. Separately, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they launched missile attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, one off Yanbu on the Red Sea and another in the Gulf of Aden, although Saudi Arabia had not confirmed either incident.