Attack on oil tankers raises tensions in the Red Sea and oil prices

Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked two Saudi oil tankers on Wednesday, saying the vessels had violated the naval blockade they had declared. The Houthis said today, according to Reuters, that they had fired several ballistic and cruise missiles at the tankers Encelia and Layla. The Encelia was hit by an unknown projectile in the Red Sea, about 130 kilometres southwest of the Saudi city of Shuqaiq, maritime security company Vanguard said. The attack on the second tanker has not yet been confirmed.

The Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi Arabia this week, saying it was retaliation for last week’s attack on the airport in the capital, Sanaa, and for the blockade of Yemeni ports and airports that Riyadh is carrying out, according to the rebels. In a statement today, the Houthis said they had so far forced around ten vessels bound for Saudi ports to change course. Reuters said the claim could not be immediately verified, although publicly available data showed that five tankers changed course in the Red Sea on Wednesday.

The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are important shipping routes for Saudi oil exports, especially at a time when traffic on the other route, the Strait of Hormuz, has fallen sharply because of the war between Iran and the United States. A naval blockade of Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels, who are backed by the Iranian regime, could further disrupt oil transport in the region and drive up prices on global markets.