Bab el-Mandeb traffic halves as Middle East shipping risk becomes a dual bottleneck

Summary

A Clarksons Research update issued at 10:00 on 27 July 2026 showed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait averaging about 31 transits a day on 25-26 July, roughly 50% below the second-quarter average by tonnage, at the same time as Hormuz traffic remained near standstill. The simultaneous squeeze on both chokepoints threatens Saudi Arabia's alternative Red Sea export route via Yanbu, after Houthi forces declared a naval blockade on Saudi vessels on 20 July. Two COSCO-managed VLCCs, Xin Long Yang and Cosnew Lake, cleared Bab el-Mandeb on 23 July carrying about 4 million barrels of Saudi crude to China after pausing for two days, switching AIS destination fields before transit.