Saudi Arabia informed during the weekend that the oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb are now continued. Saudi Arabia had imposed a temporary halting of all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb, after Houthis rebels attacked two Saudi Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in the Red Sea on July 25.
As the county’s Energy Ministry said, this decision was made after the Saudi led coalition took the necessary measures to protect its states’ ships.
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The continuation of the oil shipments was confirmed by Saudi Aramco as well, which stated that it is monitoring and evaluating the current situation and will take all necessary procedures to ensure safety.
The Bab al-Mandeb strait is only 20 km (12 miles) wide, making hundreds of ships potentially easy targets, according to Reuters.
Saudi Arabia announced a temporary halting of all oil shipments through the Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb, after Houthis rebels attacked two Saudi Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in the Red Sea on July 25, slightly damaging one of them, according to an official statement by Minister Khalid al-Falih.
The incident comes in addition of a series of Houthi attacks on ships off the coast of Yemen, specially on the aftermath of the Saudi coalition’s closure of Red Sea ports back in November.
Responding to the threats arising from the conflict in Yemen, BIMCO, ICS and INTERTANKO published in early 2018 a guidance on maritime security in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, urging shipowners and operators to be aware of new threat patterns in the area.
