Commercial shipping traversing the volatile waters of the Red Sea is quietly adapting to a new operational reality at the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. According to reports published on Friday, Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, has assumed a practical role in regulating maritime traffic through a system that requires vessels to request passage authorization via email.
Captains Wait Twenty Four Hours for Pre-Clearance
The system operationalized by the group functions as a pre-clearance mechanism for maritime traffic. Crew members and ship captains communicate their status to Houthi contacts ahead of their arrival at the chokepoint, following an earlier announcement this year by the group imposing a ban on Saudi vessels. According to aljazeera.net, applicants generally receive a response within a 24-hour window, based on accounts from ship crews and electronic messages.
In a dispatch highlighted by alchourouk.com and yallasyrianews.com, the captain of one commercial vessel explicitly messaged the group to state that their ship had no connections to Israel, the United Kingdom, or the United States, concluding with a direct request for confirmation of safe passage.
In an interaction documented across all three source reports, the Houthis responded to a Chinese container ship by stating, يسرنا أنكم فهمتم المعايير المتعلقة بنطاق حظر السفن
(We are pleased that you understood the criteria regarding the scope of the ship ban).
The communication further confirmed that the Chinese vessel had secured a valid seven-day transit permit.
Houthis Enforce Maritime Embargo Against Saudi Vessels
This administrative oversight coincides with an enforced maritime embargo declared earlier this year against Saudi-flagged or associated vessels, which has also involved Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi sites and ships. The conflict traces back to March 2015, when Saudi Arabia initiated a military coalition to support the internationally recognized government of Yemen against the Houthis, who seized control of Sanaa and other regions in September 2014.
In statements issued on Friday across the reporting outlets, the Houthis asserted that 1,083 vessels passed through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait during October. This total comprised 550 vessels moving northward and 533 heading south. The statement claimed this flow indicates that international transit through the waterway continues without obstacles, asserting that transit in the strait remains safe for all commercial ships except those belonging to the Saudi adversary.
