An Asia-bound supertanker carrying Saudi oil has exited the Red Sea via the longer Suez Canal route while other vessels continue to risk the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as Houthi threats heighten uncertainty in the region.

By Florence Tan SINGAPORE, July 27 (Reuters) – Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the...

By Weilun Soon Jul 25, 2026 (Bloomberg) –A Hong Kong-flagged supertanker bound for Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu has U-turned just before reaching the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint, where recent...

By Weilun Soon and Julian Lee Jul 24, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Millions of barrels of Saudi Arabian crude are still being shipped from the nation’s Red Sea coast to the global market,...

Escalating attacks on Black Sea shipping and ports have sent wheat prices soaring to their highest in two years, stoking fresh concerns over food inflation as one of the world's most important grain export routes comes under renewed threat.

A Greek tanker carrying Saudi crude exited the Red Sea with its transponder off, while another Chinese vessel and Russian cargoes headed toward the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after Houthi attacks heightened risks.

Shipowners halted vessel arrivals at Ukraine's Black Sea ports due to intensified Russian strikes, Kyiv said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Moscow might escalate attacks in order to block the country's main corridor for grain exports.

Some Asian crude oil buyers are in talks with Saudi Aramco to potentially reroute flows around Africa after Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea, according to traders familiar with the matter.

Ships continue to turn away from the southern end of the Red Sea, after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced an embargo on Saudi exports through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow channel that has become a lifeline for oil exports since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Challenges to shipping in the Middle East escalated, as a call from Iran-backed Houthi rebels against servicing Saudi ports spurred unusual maneuvers in the Red Sea, while a European Union naval group raised its threat level for the waterway.

Two oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea's mouth following a warning from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia.

Global trade faces a fresh headache on top of the months-long snarls in the Middle East that have roiled flows, with the Panama Canal moving to curtail some vessel-booking slots because of water-supply challenges.