Commercial shipping in the Red Sea has slowed significantly after the Houthi rebels attacked a series of oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Just eleven vessels passed through the treacherous Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday.
This is the lowest number of ships to pass through the waterway in months.
Last week, the Houthi rebels, an Iran-backed group in Yemen, began attacks on Saudi Arabia, with the aim of blockading exports.
The disruption has caused prices of crude cargoes in the Middle East to hit a two-month high.
Reuters reports, “Seven of the vessels that passed through Bab el-Mandeb were oil tankers with three of them entering the Red Sea. Two of them are very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to the port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude while the third is a Russian-linked ship, the data showed.
“The four vessels that exited the Red Sea on Sunday included the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude for eastern China’s Ningbo port, a tanker carrying 1 million barrels of Russian crude for China and a tanker with about 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude onboard for Pakistan, the data showed.
“Another Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Pearl carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude is exiting the Red Sea via Bab el-Mandeb strait for eastern China’s Zhoushan port, the fourth Chinese supertanker to leave since the Houthis declared a naval blockade.”
Shipping has also been significantly reduced in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, despite the pause in tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran.
Fewer than ten ships passed through the Strait daily over the weekend.
On Friday, President Trump said talks with Iran were becoming “more serious,” but added that he wouldn’t try to rush a deal before the midterms.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump said, “We are talking to them.”
“I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason, but we are talking to them right now.
“I think they are being by far the most serious that we’ve seen. But that doesn’t mean we get there.”
President Trump added that “sorta everybody”—including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—was now involved in negotiating with Iran.
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From what I read on nearly every message or comment section is all we have to do is PRAY….OH AND Jesus is coming…soon. SO just sit and watch…because something is going to lift the innocent up into the sky?