Red Sea nations watch as Houthis seize Bab al-Mandeb strait

Houthi fighters have consolidated control along Yemen’s Red Sea shore after capturing the port city of Mocha and seizing Mayyun (Perim) island over the weekend, placing them within about 20 kilometres of the African coast. Observers say that positioning gives the movement de facto control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a narrow maritime chokepoint that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The takeover comes amid mounting concerns for international shipping. Bab al-Mandeb accounts for roughly 12% of global trade — including about 11% of maritime oil and 8% of LNG — and shipping lines have reacted by rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, a diversion that can add more than 20 transit days and boost freight costs. IMF PortWatch data show a 50–55% fall in Red Sea shipping volume and tonnage between 2023 and 2025, when attacks on vessels and regional tensions rose. Maritime-security specialists warn the geography makes ships easier targets. Alexandru Cristian Hudisteanu, a former naval officer, noted the strait is narrower than the Strait of Hormuz and said Houthi positions along the Yemeni coast could simplify targeting. He also cautioned that many naval forces in the region operate under specific mission mandates — such as the EU-led Operation Atalanta — that can delay or constrain responses, and that the redeployment of assets toward Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz has helped fuel a resurgence of piracy off the Horn of Africa. The conflict’s human toll is already spilling across the sea: the International Organization for Migration reported over 2,000 Yemenis arrived in Djibouti within a 24-hour period, landing at Obock where they received basic aid but where agencies warned more support is required. Economically, the rerouting of traffic through 2023–24 sharply hit Egypt: official data indicate the Suez Canal lost about $7 billion between 2023 and 2024, roughly 60% of its revenues, as firms avoided the Red Sea route. Houthi officials have publicly asserted that navigation and trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb remain safe and orderly, and Iran has emphasized that the Houthis are independent actors. Yet the recent campaign — including more than 100 attacks on commercial vessels from November 2023 to mid-2025 — and footage of Houthi commanders discussing coastal artillery have prompted caution among global shipping operators and intensified attention to security gaps in the region.