Houthis strike two Saudi oil tankers in one day, escalating Red Sea blockade

Twin strikes on Saudi shipping

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels announced two separate missile attacks on Saudi oil tankers on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, escalating their declared maritime blockade against the kingdom. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a video statement that the group "successfully targeted the Saudi oil tanker Wafa in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu, with several ballistic missiles." Hours later, Saree reported a second strike on the tanker Daisy in the Gulf of Aden, also hit with a ballistic missile and forced to turn back. The Daisy was the ninth vessel targeted since the blockade was announced on July 22, according to figures provided by the rebels, with the Wafa being the eighth.

Yanbu as Saudi Arabia's lifeline

The port city of Yanbu, located on the northern Red Sea coast, has become Saudi Arabia's principal oil export terminal since Iran blocked navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. With the Persian Gulf route closed, the Red Sea route through the Bab el-Mandeb strait has grown critical for Saudi crude exports. The narrow waterway between Yemen and Djibouti connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and, via the Suez Canal, to the Mediterranean. Saree said the Houthi blockade has forced Saudi Arabia to divert "its oil tankers towards the northern Red Sea," the area farthest from Yemen, where the group now intends to "intensify" its attacks "to close all access points and prevent their passage."

Surging exports through Bab el-Mandeb

According to data from maritime tracking service Kpler, Saudi maritime crude exports through the Bab el-Mandeb strait increased eightfold between March and mid-July 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. Exports reached nearly 100 million barrels in June, up from 7 million barrels in February. In April and May, all Saudi maritime crude exports departed from the port of Yanbu, according to Kpler.

Broader conflict context

The Houthi blockade threatens Saudi Arabia's ability to ship oil to international markets, compounding the impact of the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, had provided military support to Yemen's internationally recognized government starting in 2015. After several years of relative calm, hostilities between the rebels and Saudi Arabia have recently resumed, opening a new front in the ongoing conflict between the United States, allied with Riyadh, and Iran. In retaliation, the Saudi-led coalition has targeted Houthi military sites that threatened navigation in the Red Sea. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the first attack, as reported by Reuters.