Two Chinese supertankers with Saudi oil head to Bab el-Mandeb for Red Sea exit

Earlier on Thursday, the Houthis announced they had carried out a military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers they said violated the blockade. The Saudi Arabian news agency SPA later said the Saudi vessel Encelia was attacked in the Red Sea and was on fire, though the crew was safe.

Because of the Middle East conflict, shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb declined and movement through the Strait of Hormuz remained subdued on Wednesday, LSEG and Kpler data showed.

Twenty-seven vessels, including five oil tankers and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Wednesday, LSEG data showed, down from 38 the previous day.

Three vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from four a day earlier and 18 the previous Wednesday, according to data analytics firm Kpler.