strikeJul 20, 2026

Why the Red Sea remains one of the world's most dangerous shipping routes

Summary

The warning has raised fears that the Iran conflict could threaten another critical shipping route, putting global energy supplies, international trade and maritime security under pressure. Also Read: Iran tells Houthis to close Red Sea gateway if US hits power network, sources say The concern is significant because the Red Sea has become even more important after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit route between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. With Saudi Arabia shifting more crude exports through its Red Sea route to keep shipments flowing, any attack or blockade around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could affect one of the world’s last major alternatives for Gulf energy exports. According to a Reuters report citing multiple sources, Iran has signalled that Yemen’s Houthi rebels could be prepared to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea if US attacks on Iran continue. The Houthis have reportedly positioned missiles and drones near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The latest threat has brought renewed attention to a waterway that has already faced repeated attacks, forcing shipping companies to reroute vessels, increasing costs and disrupting global supply chains. Why is the Red Sea important for global trade?The Red Sea is a narrow but strategically important waterway located between northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. For centuries, it has served as a major trade route, but its importance increased significantly after the opening of Egypt’s Suez Canal in 1869. The canal created a direct maritime connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, allowing ships travelling between Asia and Europe to avoid the much longer route around Africa. Today, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal together form one of the most important shipping corridors in the world. Also Read: After Hormuz, Iran turns to Red Sea gateway as new pressure point Every day, vessels carrying a wide range of goods pass through the route, including: - Crude oil and petroleum products - Liquefied natural gas (LNG) - Food grains - Electronics - Automobiles - Machinery - Consumer goods The northern end connects with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. This makes the Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal together a vital bridge between Asian manufacturing hubs and European markets. Before Houthi attacks disrupted shipping in 2023, nearly 10% of global seaborne trade passed through Bab el-Mandeb annually. Why has the Red Sea become strategically important for oil markets?The Red Sea’s importance has increased further because of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, with around one-fifth of global oil supplies traditionally passing through it. After tensions disrupted traffic through Hormuz, Gulf countries began relying more heavily on alternative routes. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, has used pipelines connecting its oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to continue exporting crude. Saudi Arabia diverted more than 70% of its normal daily crude exports to Yanbu, according to data from Kpler and Signal Ocean. Shipments from Yanbu averaged around 4 million barrels per day in recent weeks, compared with about 973,000 barrels per day during the same period last year. Kpler data showed that petroleum volumes moving through Bab el-Mandeb reached 7.4 million barrels per day in June, accounting for around 7% of global oil output. This has helped limit the impact of disruptions elsewhere. However, any serious threat to the Red Sea route could create pressure on global oil markets because both major energy corridors would face risks at the same time. Why is the Red Sea considered dangerous?The Red Sea is considered dangerous because of a combination of geography, regional conflicts and the presence of armed groups capable of targeting commercial vessels. The biggest vulnerability is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway is narrow, meaning ships have limited room to manoeuvre. Even limited attacks using missiles, drones or small boats can force shipping companies to temporarily suspend operations. The route became a major security concern after Yemen’s Houthi rebels began attacking commercial vessels following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The Houthis said they were targeting ships linked to Israel in support of Palestinians. However, their definition of vessels connected to Israel expanded, resulting in attacks affecting broader commercial shipping. Major shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, diverted vessels away from the Red Sea and sent them around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. The alternative route adds thousands of miles to journeys, increases fuel consumption and raises insurance and freight costs. Who are the Houthis and why do they matter?The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, are a Yemeni political and military movement that emerged in the northern province of Saada during the 1990s. The group began as a movement opposing Yemen’s government and later became a major military force during Yemen’s civil war. In 2014, the Houthis seized control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa, triggering a conflict with the internationally recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia and its allies. The Houthis now control large parts of northern Yemen, including areas along the Red Sea coastline. Iran supports the Houthis as part of its regional “Axis of Resistance”, which includes groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraqi Shiite militias. However, the relationship is complicated. While Iran provides political and military support, the Houthis have their own domestic goals and do not always act directly on Tehran’s instructions. The United States has accused Iran of providing weapons, funding and training to the Houthis. The group denies being an Iranian proxy and says it develops its own military capabilities. What happened during earlier Red Sea attacks?The Houthis previously disrupted global shipping after launching attacks on commercial vessels in late 2023. The attacks caused shipping traffic through the Red Sea to decline sharply as companies prioritised safety over shorter routes. The disruption affected global supply chains, with businesses facing: - Longer delivery times - Higher shipping costs - Rising insurance premiums - Increased fuel expenses The US and UK also carried out strikes against Houthi positions, while European naval missions supported maritime security operations. Although attacks later reduced, the latest warnings have raised concerns that the Red Sea could again become a major conflict zone. Why is Iran threatening the Red Sea route?Analysts believe Iran’s warning about the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is aimed at increasing pressure on the United States and its allies. While the Strait of Hormuz remains Iran’s strongest strategic leverage point, the Red Sea provides another way to affect global trade. A senior Houthi official, Mohammad al-Farah, warned that the group could close Bab el-Mandeb if tensions escalated. "If the current situation aggravates, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock," he warned. Middle East scholar Fawaz Gerges told Reuters that Iran was signalling its ability to threaten both major maritime chokepoints. "Iran is willing to go all the way," Gerges told Reuters. He added that the message from Tehran was that "not only Hormuz, but Bab al-Mandab, is at risk." However, analysts say the Houthis may not immediately move against shipping, as doing so could invite retaliation from the US and Israel and risk their fragile truce with Saudi Arabia. How Red Sea attacks affect global shippingA prolonged Red Sea crisis could affect the global economy in several ways. Higher oil pricesAny disruption to Gulf energy exports could reduce available supplies and push crude prices higher. Increased shipping costsLonger routes around Africa increase fuel consumption, insurance costs and freight charges. Supply chain delaysIndustries dependent on Asian-European trade routes could face delays in receiving goods and components. Inflation risksHigher energy and transport costs could increase prices for consumers worldwide. What does the Red Sea crisis mean for India?The Red Sea is particularly important for India because a significant share of its trade with Europe, North Africa and parts of North America passes through the Suez Canal. Any disruption could affect India through: - Higher crude oil import costs - Increased freight and insurance expenses - Delays in exports and imports - Additional inflationary pressure For India, the Red Sea crisis is not only a geopolitical issue but also a trade and energy security concern. The Red Sea has become one of the world’s most important and vulnerable shipping routes because it connects major markets, carries critical energy supplies and sits at the intersection of several geopolitical conflicts. The latest Iran-Houthi warnings have increased fears that the conflict could spread beyond the Gulf and threaten another global trade artery. Whether the threat remains a warning or turns into actual disruption will determine the next challenge for global shipping, energy markets and economies dependent on stable trade routes. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Actors involved

USIsraelIranProxy

Sources

SECTIONS Why the Red Sea remains oneBy SECTIONS Why the Red Sea remains one
The warning has raised fears that the Iran conflict could threaten another critical shipping route, putting global energy supplies, international trade and maritime security under pressure. Also Read: Iran tells Houthis to close Red Sea gateway if US hits power network, sources s…

See this event through different lenses

Compare how Western, Iranian, Israeli, Global South, and Pro-Peace perspectives frame this event.

Compare Perspectives

Community Notes

Loading notes...

Related events

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIranProxy

US strikes Iran for 10th consecutive night as Tehran strikes tanker in the Strait of Hormuz

○ 1 source

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, while the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic as they struggle over control of the key waterway.

The 10 consecutive nights of U.S. airstrikes haven’t compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Even as the U.S. and Iran inch closer to all-out war again, Iran’s interior minister traveled to Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, for talks.

However, it remains unclear just what new deal could be reached to end the fighting. The interim deal signed last month that was meant to end the fighting has crumbled. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. And as fighting intensifies, both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” the U.S. State Department said in a new warning to Americans. The escalation has pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks.

Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday above $88 a barrel and regular gasoline in the U.S. climbed to an average of $4 a gallon, keeping pressure on Americans’ wallets ahead of midterm elections this fall. Meanwhile, the U.S. military identified two soldiers who were killed in Jordan in attacks that left a third person missing.

Separately, the military confirmed another death in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday to warn that “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!

” Trump was planning to attend a ceremony on Tuesday evening at Dover Air Force Base, where at least one service member’s remains were due to arrive. US strikes come as ships attacked The U.S. military’s Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems.

” It released more footage of bombings that targeted sites in Iran. “American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait,” the command said.

Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces. However, traffic through the strait has slowed to a crawl during the latest violence. Lloyd's List Intelligence said only three ships transited the strait on Sunday.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway.

The route around Oman has been the one the U.S. military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control. The UKMTO separately reported Tuesday that another previously unknown attack on a ship took place early the previous day. Tehran also hit U.

S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East. Jordan military's said Tuesday that Iran targeted it with five drones and three missiles, all of which were shot down. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens Tuesday afternoon as another Iranian barrage targeted the island kingdom, which is home to the U.

S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Nearly 100 US injuries since early July The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured since the U.S. restarted strikes on July 7, and 96% of them have returned to duty.

“The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions,” Sean Parnell posted Monday on X in response to a New York Times report that the Pentagon has withheld information about troop injuries from Iranian strikes. He denied that the Pentagon was hiding data about injuries.

However, the Defense Casualty Analysis System, the military’s clearinghouse for reporting deaths and injuries in conflict, has not been updated as of Monday night with the latest attacks. Yemen rebels threaten attacks on other Mideast waterway Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said they would block shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting the Bab el-Mandeb, a maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week that they blamed on Saudi Arabia.

With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market. The Houthis earlier demonstrated their ability to disrupt shipping there when they targeted ships for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with over 100 vessels attacked.

Saudi Arabia’s military said it would keep the waterway open. “All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly, as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy,” said Maj.

Gen, Turki al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesman. A glimmer of hope for diplomacy Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the interim deal. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Islamabad on Monday for two days of talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran but that “it has to be real.” “If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations — that’ll be a very positive development,” Rubio said.

“That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.” Iranian authorities on Sunday said at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest rounds of U.S. strikes. Since the war began on Feb. 28, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.

JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranRussiaChina

How the US-Iran conflict has thrown India’s Chabahar plans into doubt

○ 1 source

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted social media images showing damage to a maritime control tower at Iran’s Chabahar port following reported US military strikes, accompanied by the caption “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.” India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that the Shahid Beheshti terminal operated by India at the port sustained no damage.

The ministry reiterated its position that civilian infrastructure should not be targeted during conflicts.

Location: Iran

Divya A

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxy

U.S. strikes Iran and Houthis threaten Saudi Arabia shipping as mediators push 10-day ceasefire

○ 1 source

The U.S. Central Command reported conducting strikes on Iranian military command centers, missile and drone sites, and air defense systems on Monday evening. Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, and Houthi forces declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.

Reports indicate that mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire, while Rystad Energy noted risks of higher oil prices.

Location: Iran

Sam Meredith

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedIsraelIranProxy

How Houthi Red Sea blockade tightens Iran's grip on energy supplies

○ 1 source

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis announced Monday they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, further throttling a global energy market already greatly restricted by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This is why it matters and what it means for the Iran war and the global energy crisis.

It is not clear how the Houthis would carry out a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, its northern neighbor along the Red Sea coast, or whether it would include a return to attacks on shipping. Yemen sits on the Bab el-Mandeb strait – the southern gateway to the Red Sea – and closing that would open up a new front in the energy crisis and Iran's overarching conflict with the U.

S. With the Strait of Hormuz already disrupted, the Red Sea has become a critical alternative outlet for Gulf oil and other products. A serious disruption would mean both of the Middle East's major oil export routes are shut simultaneously. Iran's partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the U.

S. attacked it on Feb. 28 disrupted most oil and other exports from the Gulf, raising prices and delivering a global energy shock. Saudi Arabia responded by diverting more than 70% of its normal daily crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Ships from Yanbu bound for Europe go north through the Suez Canal.

Those heading to Asia go south through Bab el-Mandeb. Shipments from Yanbu averaged 4 million barrels per day in recent weeks according to data from Kpler and Signal Ocean, up from around 973,000 bpd a year earlier. Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab el-Mandeb amounted to 7.

4 million bpd in June, or about 7% of global oil output, according to Kpler data, up from 4.2 million bpd last year. That has provided a lifeline for the energy market, helping to keep down global oil prices. Saudi Arabia is considering an expansion of its crude oil pipeline to the Red Sea coast, Reuters reported last week.

When the Houthis launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in November 2023, Gulf oil exports were flowing freely. The Houthis have been in a civil war against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government for more than a decade and have attacked Gulf neighbors with missiles and drones.

However, a 2022 truce between the country's warring sides largely held until last week, when Yemen's internationally recognized government said it had struck Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane landing. The Houthis said Saudi Arabia was responsible and, in response, fired missiles at Abha airport in the kingdom's mountainous southwest.

A senior Houthi official, politburo member Mohammad al-Farah, then warned in an interview on Iran's Press TV website that if the situation kept escalating, Bab el-Mandeb would be closed. The U.S. says Iran has armed, funded and trained the Houthis with help from Hezbollah.

The Houthis deny being an Iranian proxy and say they develop their own weapons. It is not clear how far the group's stance on Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea stems from its own strategic priorities or is being made on Iran's behalf. After Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza, the Houthis began firing at Israel and on shipping in the Red Sea, saying they were doing so in support of Palestinians.

The attacks severely disrupted global shipping, prompting Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and other major companies to divert around Africa – a far longer, more expensive route. Red Sea traffic has not recovered since, with traffic through the Suez Canal down 52% in 2025 versus 2023 levels and at its lowest in at least 50 years, Suez Canal Authority data shows.

A U.S.-led mission to restore free navigation in the Red Sea involved repeated strikes on Houthi targets and a campaign that shot down hundreds of drones and missiles. But some Houthi attacks continued until last summer, only ending completely with the Gaza cease-fire in October.

Last month, the Houthis said they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed military attacks on Iran. However, that threat was never acted on and shipping groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are resuming some Red Sea routes that they had abandoned during the Houthi attacks last year, Maersk said this month.

While Hezbollah and the Iraqi groups joined the war early with rocket and drone fire after the first U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, the Houthis had been comparatively quiet. The group's leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on March 5: "Our fingers are on the trigger at any moment should developments warrant it.

" Iranian commanders have repeatedly warned that the Houthis could join the war. The Houthis launched a few missile and drone attacks on Israel in late March and early April. Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Esmaeil Qaani said on June 1 they could choke off the Red Sea.

That may now have changed with their announcement of the blockade on Monday against Saudi Arabia in retaliation for what they called the kingdom's siege of its ports and airports, including last week's strike.

Reuters