Pakistan-flagged oil tankers cross Red Sea despite Houthi blockade

Two Pakistan-flagged oil tankers carrying Saudi crude oil crossed the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait without incident, despite a Houthi blockade targeting Saudi Arabia, maritime intelligence company Windward said.

The Aframax tankers loaded crude at Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port before sailing to Pakistan with their tracking systems switched on.

Why did the Pakistan-flagged oil tankers cross the Red Sea safely?

Pakistani officials had already warned Yemen's Houthi rebels that attacking a Pakistan-flagged vessel would be treated as a threat to national security. That warning came days before the tankers' transit. Windward noted that most Saudi-linked tankers, aside from Chinese-affiliated ones, have been attacked or rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope since the blockade began.

Attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea have continued despite the tankers' safe passage. Coast guards recently rescued all 14 crew members from the Indian-flagged commercial vessel MSV Faize Noore Oliya after it sank following an attack south of Yemen's port city of Hodeida, an official in the Yemeni city of Mokha said.

What happened to the Indian-flagged tanker attacked near Yemen?

The crew consisted of 13 Indian nationals and one Yemeni national, the Mokha official said. Yemen's internationally recognized government blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, according to the official Saba news agency. Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on X that the vessel had been hit by a projectile near Yemeni waters and that India strongly condemned the unprovoked attack.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the targeting of commercial shipping in the region must end. India's shipping ministry reported the country had more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, making it one of the world's largest suppliers of merchant sailors. That scale underscores why attacks on vessels crewed by Indian nationals draw swift official responses.

Why is the Red Sea route critical for Saudi oil exports?

The Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, last month and have since claimed several attacks on oil tankers and infrastructure. Shipping through the Red Sea has grown more important since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the Middle East war. Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu has let the kingdom keep exporting crude while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz entirely.

What happened at Najran Airport in Saudi Arabia?

Operations were suspended Tuesday at an airport in southern Saudi Arabia after the Houthis claimed they had attacked the facility, a regional source with knowledge of the matter said. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted what he called a sensitive Saudi target at Najran Airport using a drone, in response to alleged Saudi drone activity over Yemen's Saada and Hajjah governorates.

The regional source told AFP that the strike hit the airport's main radar, disrupting operations. The airport's website listed the status of upcoming scheduled flights as unknown, and Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claimed attack. The airport, located near the Yemeni border, has a single terminal serving a limited number of daily flights.

Is the Saudi-Houthi conflict escalating?

Saudi Arabia has carried out strikes on Houthi positions since the rebels announced the maritime blockade. Fighting resumed last month, marking the first exchange of heavy fire between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since a 2022 truce. A Saudi-led military coalition has fought the Houthis since 2015, after the group seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and forced out the internationally recognized government.