Houthis Strike Saudi Tanker Near Yanbu Port

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Wednesday, August 5, that it had fired ballistic missiles at the Saudi oil tanker Wafa in the northern Red Sea, near the port of Yanbu. For Serbia, which pays for fuel at prices set by the world market, this is not a distant story: since the Strait of Hormuz closed to international shipping, Yanbu has become Saudi Arabia’s main outlet for oil to buyers, so every day of uncertainty at that point gets built into the price of a barrel long before that price reaches a pump at home.

Sanaa Claims, Riyadh Silent

The claim came from Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a recorded statement released the same day. “The vessel was targeted near the Saudi port city of Yanbu,” Saree said, without offering any evidence of a hit or any information on damage or the crew.

There was no confirmation from the other side. Neither Saudi Arabia, nor the ship’s operator, nor independent maritime security agencies responded immediately. Wafa is a chemical and product tanker built in 2014.

Eighth Ship Since the Blockade Began

According to the rebels’ own claims, Wafa is the eighth Saudi tanker they have targeted since declaring a maritime blockade on July 22 of vessels linked to Saudi Arabia and closing the Bab el Mandeb strait. Saree also said they had turned back 29 other tankers since last month. The Houthis frame this as a response to what they call a Saudi siege of Yemen, a claim Riyadh rejects.

The timeline of recent weeks is dense:

• in late July the Saudi tankers Encelia and Layla were both targeted, and Encelia caught fire afterward, though its crew was unharmed
• Saudi Arabia struck back with air raids on what it described as Houthi military sites in the port of Hodeidah
• a day before the attack on Wafa, on Tuesday, August 4, the Indian cargo ship Faize Noore Oliya sank after being hit by a projectile off Yemen’s southwestern coast, and all 14 crew members were rescued

Why Has the Target Moved So Far North?

Yanbu is not a random point on the map. It is the terminus of Saudi Arabia’s east west pipeline, which carries oil from the kingdom’s eastern fields to the Red Sea coast. With Hormuz closed to international shipping, that port has become Saudi Arabia’s main export route.

That is also the trap the rebels are exploiting. A tanker that loads crude at Yanbu still has to sail south, through Bab el Mandeb, past the coastline the Houthis control. By striking at the northern end of the route, they show they do not need to wait for a ship at the narrow strait, they can hit it at the loading point instead, one of the farthest targets from the strait since the blockade was declared. For Saudi exports, that means securing passage through the strait is no longer enough, the entire length of the voyage now has to be secured too.

A Bill That Reaches Europe Too

The fallout is not measured only in the number of ships hit. Every such attack feeds into the risk assessment that shipping companies and insurers make for that route, and that assessment translates into freight rates, into premiums, and into a decision on whether a ship sails through the Red Sea or takes the longer way around Africa. The cost does not stop in the Gulf of Aden, it travels up the supply chain to the refineries that buy the crude.

Serbia has no ship of its own in the Red Sea, but it does have an import price set on the same market. That is why a disruption at two straits at once, one closed and one under missile fire, shows up at pumps at home even when the news mentions only the name of a ship no one here has heard of.

No Deadline in Sight

The Houthis have not said how long the blockade will last, or under what conditions they would lift it. Riyadh has not commented on the attack on Wafa. The next development that will actually mean something will not be a fresh statement out of Sanaa, it will be the first tanker that loads oil at Yanbu and clears Bab el Mandeb without incident.