Saudis Suspend Oil Shipments Via Bab el-Mandeb After Attack
- Two tankers came under attack by Houthi militia, Al-Falih says
- Saudi energy minister says suspension is immediate, temporary
A satellite view of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Photographer: USGS/NASA Landsat/Orbital Horizon via Getty Images
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Saudi Arabia took the extraordinary measure of temporarily halting oil shipments via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping lane for crude at the southern tip of the Red Sea, after it said two tankers were attacked by Yemen’s Houthi militia.
The two vessels, each with a capacity of 2 million barrels of oil, belong to the Saudi National Shipping Co., Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement posted online. One of the ships, the Arsan, was hit and suffered minor damage, according to the company. There were no injuries or spills as a result.