Can the Red Sea Close While Ships Still Pass?
The route remains open. The rules are becoming less predictable.
The Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping on July 20.
Before any attack was confirmed, several tankers changed course.
Two days later, the Saudi-flagged tanker Encelia was hit after leaving Yanbu.
It was the first confirmed Houthi strike on Red Sea shipping since last September.
Ships can still pass through Bab el-Mandeb.
But the real question is no longer whether the route is open.
It is whether global carriers can still rely on it.
The return remains limited
Containership traffic through Bab el-Mandeb increased in H1/2026.