Summary
China has engaged directly with Yemen’s Houthi movement to request assurances that its tankers will be allowed to transit the Bab el-Mandeb strait in the southern Red Sea without being attacked, according to six sources with knowledge of the matter. The move comes after the Iran-aligned militia announced on July 20 that it would prevent access to Saudi Arabian ports, a development that has expanded attacks on tankers and opened a new front against the United States and its allies in the wider Iran-related conflict.
Direct diplomatic outreach and commercial imperatives
Sources, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the discussions, said Beijing had asked the Houthis to pledge safe passage for vessels carrying Chinese cargoes. A senior Iranian official was among those referenced by the sources describing the contacts. China was identified by the sources as one of the first countries to engage the Houthis directly on the question of transits through Bab el-Mandeb - the narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea alongside Yemen.
Officials in China have been seeking to preserve flows of crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea terminals, principally Yanbu, to mitigate supply shortfalls created by what the sources described as Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz at the exit from the Persian Gulf. The efforts include clearing individual vessels through direct communication with Houthi representatives, the sources said.
Vessel movements, tracking data and operational responses
Industry tracking and analytic services have recorded at least four tankers that loaded crude in Saudi ports with China as destination and subsequently transited Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthis announced their restrictions. The sources named Kpler analysis, LSEG and MarineTraffic ship tracking data as underpinning those observations.
One source said Chinese officials cleared each of those vessels individually with the Houthis. Two officials in the region, briefed by Tehran, said both sides had kept Iran informed of the passage-clearing arrangements.
The Houthi movement has informed international shipping companies by email that vessels arriving to load or discharge cargo at Saudi Arabian ports could be subject to attack. That warning has prompted some ships to alter their routes out of safety concerns, according to two separate Chinese trade sources familiar with the matter.
Notable ship diversions and reported strikes
Analysis from Lloyd’s List Intelligence and MarineTraffic ship tracking shows the supertankers New Champion and New Prime both reversed course from the Gulf of Aden back into open waters. The New Champion had been scheduled to call at Yanbu to take on oil, while the New Prime was already carrying crude cargo, industry tracking and Kpler data indicated. The vessels’ operator, Hong Kong-based Associated Maritime, did not provide a response to a request for comment.
The Houthis stated they carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla. Maritime security sources confirmed an attack on the Encelia; confirmation of the attack on the Layla was not immediate, according to available reporting.
Transit time implications and prior coordination
Routing through Bab el-Mandeb from Yanbu to destinations in Asia typically takes on average 16 days. If a ship avoids the southern Red Sea and instead turns north for the Suez Canal and then sails west and south around Africa, the voyage duration extends to around 50 days, a difference that has clear operational and commercial implications for energy shipping.
Sources close to the Houthi movement told reporters that the militia has maintained positive relations with China and that there has been close past coordination, particularly regarding oil shipments from Saudi Arabia to China.
Responses and outstanding questions
Requests for comment to China’s transport ministry, the Houthi media office and Iran’s foreign ministry did not receive immediate replies, according to the parties attempting contact. The picture of individual vessel clearances, reported ship diversions and targeted strikes presents a fluid operational environment for companies and states managing crude flows through the Red Sea and adjacent waterways.
This article is based on reporting by multiple unnamed sources and on ship-tracking and market-analytics data cited by those sources.