Houthis Say They Hit Saudi Tanker Wafa Near Yanbu: Eighth Vessel Claimed as Red Sea Blockade Tightens
Ansar Allah says it directly struck the Saudi tanker Wafa near Yanbu and claims eight Saudi-linked vessels have been hit since its blockade began. Reuters confirms the broader Houthi tanker campaign and collapsing Red Sea traffic, but Saudi Arabia has not independently verified every claimed strike.
Ansar Allah says it has directly struck the Saudi tanker Wafa in the Red Sea near Yanbu, continuing a campaign designed to pressure Saudi oil exports and maritime traffic.
The Houthis describe the vessel as the eighth Saudi ship hit since they declared a blockade of Saudi Red Sea ports.
They also claim 29 additional Saudi-linked vessels have been forced to turn around or prevented from crossing Bab el-Mandeb.
Those totals come from Ansar Allah and should be treated as claims unless matched vessel by vessel with independent shipping data.
The broader campaign is real.
Reuters has documented Houthi missile attacks on Saudi-linked tankers and a dramatic fall in traffic through both Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz.
In early August, Reuters reported Houthi claims of attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, including one near Yanbu. Saudi authorities did not confirm every strike.
That attribution gap matters because maritime warfare creates strong incentives to exaggerate.
A movement enforcing a blockade wants shipping companies to believe its attacks are effective. Forcing a ship to reverse course can be strategically valuable even without physical damage.
Fear can achieve what missiles cannot.
Yanbu is an especially important target.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline allows crude from eastern fields to reach the Red Sea coast, reducing dependence on Hormuz.
That infrastructure is supposed to provide resilience if Iran disrupts Gulf shipping. Houthi attacks near Yanbu threaten the alternative route.
Saudi Arabia can therefore face pressure at both chokepoints: Iran around Hormuz and Ansar Allah around Bab el-Mandeb.
The Houthis call their campaign a response to Saudi policies in Yemen. Riyadh calls it an unlawful attack on civilian shipping.
The legal status of individual vessels depends on cargo and military use. A commercial oil tanker is normally a civilian object. Its nationality or ownership alone does not make it a lawful military target.
Ansar Allah may argue that Saudi oil revenue supports the war. International humanitarian law does not generally allow attacks on civilian economic assets merely because they contribute indirectly to a state’s finances.
The movement has also increased attacks on Yemeni government forces in Mocha and Marib. That suggests the maritime blockade is part of a broader escalation rather than an isolated shipping campaign.
Saudi Arabia has responded by building a multinational naval coalition and deepening defence cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan.
The practical measure of Houthi success is shipping behaviour. If vessels keep turning off AIS, rerouting or refusing Red Sea passage, the blockade has economic effect regardless of how many tankers are actually hit.
The open question is whether the strike on Wafa is confirmed through damage reports and vessel tracking—and whether Saudi Arabia can restore confidence in its Red Sea export route without launching a much larger military campaign against Houthi missile infrastructure.