Yemen's Houthi group said on July 28, 2026, that it fired missiles at a Saudi oil tanker called the NCC GHAZAL as it sailed through the Red Sea, forcing it to turn back. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced the attack on X, saying the tanker was targeted because it broke the group's ban on Saudi ships and had ignored warning calls before the missiles were fired (Detroit News; Al Jazeera).

The UK Maritime Trade Operations, a group that monitors shipping safety, reported that a tanker had an explosion in the Red Sea. The crew was safe and no environmental damage was found, according to the account cited by Al Jazeera.

This is the third confirmed attack on a Saudi ship since the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea on July 20, 2026. A blockade means trying to stop ships from passing through an area. On July 22, Saree said the group attacked two other Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, using missiles and drones. Saudi officials confirmed that the Encelia was hit and all crew members were safe (Al Jazeera; Reuters Connect).

The Houthis have also attacked Saudi oil facilities in two ports along the Red Sea coast, expanding the campaign from ships to energy infrastructure (Reuters). Ship traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb strait has dropped since those attacks, according to data reported by Reuters on July 27.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait is a narrow strip of water connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. It is only about 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point. In 2024, about 4.1 billion barrels of oil and petroleum products passed through it, roughly 5 percent of the global total. Think of it as a toll booth on a highway: if it closes or slows down, everything behind it backs up. Any lasting disruption to traffic through this route affects energy supplies flowing from Gulf producers to European and North American markets (Al Jazeera).

Oil prices have already reacted. International prices topped $100 a barrel amid the Houthi attacks and the broader conflict involving Iran. Prices surged after the first attacks on Saudi tankers (AP News; Reuters).

The US military launched new strikes on Iran as fighting increased in the Strait of Hormuz region. President Donald Trump vowed to punish Iran for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, tying the Houthi campaign directly to the larger US-Iran conflict (AP News; Reuters).

The broader context here is that the Houthis appear to be escalating step by step on purpose. They declared the blockade on July 20, struck two ships within 48 hours, then attacked Saudi port facilities, and now have hit a third tanker. Their stated reason for each strike is that the ships violated their ban, which makes the attacks look like enforcement rather than random violence. That makes it harder for other countries to justify a military response. The pattern resembles the Houthis' earlier campaign against ships linked to Israel, where they used declared rules to justify attacks and make insurers and shipping companies nervous.

The US connection between the Houthis and Iran matters for what happens next. By calling the blockade an Iranian-backed effort rather than a local Yemeni conflict, Washington has framed military strikes on Iran as a fair response to Red Sea disruptions. Combined with fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Gulf are now part of one US-Iran confrontation instead of separate crises.

For shipping companies and oil traders, the question is whether the drop in traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb becomes a long-term rerouting of ships. The data already shows fewer vessels passing through. If insurance companies raise their rates for Saudi ships because of the war risk, those tankers may take longer routes around Africa. That would reduce available shipping capacity and raise freight costs, separate from the oil price increases already caused by the conflict.