MBS, Erdogan discuss Houthi attacks

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) has held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which they discussed the latest developments in the region, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey's condemnation of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, the SPA reported.

“He also welcomed the establishment of the Saudi-led multinational maritime defence alliance and wished it success in achieving its objectives,” it added.

Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for the coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea after the Houthis claimed attacks on four Saudi tankers and Saudi oil facilities, including in Jizan and Yanbu.

What is the Saudi-led maritime defence coalition?

• Saudi Arabia says the coalition would secure maritime navigation, global commerce and energy shipments in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
• It unveiled the plans on Thursday after hosting a meeting attended by 43 countries and the EU in Riyadh. It said 14 countries, including Turkiye, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti, have supported the proposed coalition.
• Among the six Gulf Arab states, Oman and the UAE were not listed as supporting the coalition.
• The move came after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20 and launched attacks on four Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. The group also targeted Saudi oil facilities.
• Riyadh responded with air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas, including the port of Hodeidah.
• The escalation was some of the worst violence Yemen has seen for four years, after Yemen’s internationally recognised government bombed the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane from landing.

Traffic in Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz remains low

Shipping traffic through the crucial chokepoints of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb “held largely unchanged” at the start of the week amid uncertainty over US-Iran negotiations, Reuters reports.

Citing data from Kpler, a maritime traffic monitor, the agency said 20 ships, including 12 tankers and eight bulk carriers, traveled through the Bab al-Mandeb strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on Monday, holding flat compared with Sunday.

The Iran-aligned Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20, launching attacks on several Saudi tankers and oil facilities, and opening a new front in the war. Crossings in Bab al-Mandeb averaged about 41 vessels a day in the week before the Houthis’ declaration.

Traffic remained largely slow in the Strait of Hormuz, with six vessels – three tankers and three bulk carriers – transiting the strait on Monday, down from seven the previous day, according to Reuters.

Prior to the war, about 130 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily.

Saudi Aramco posts 44% rise in profits in Q2 despite war disrupting deliveries

Saudi Arabia’s state oil company has posted a 44 percent year-on-year increase in profits in the second quarter despite disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The world’s largest oil company reported a net profit of $32.69bn between April and June mainly due to higher prices for refined and chemical products as well as crude oil.

Oil activity in the kingdom, however, plunged 24.7 percent from the same period last year, official figures showed last week, contributing to its real gross domestic product falling by 4.8 percent in the second quarter.

This comes as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf hamper oil production in the region. A blockade announced by Yemen’s Houthis against Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait has also restricted the kingdom’s efforts to make use of its East-West Pipeline, which ends at the Red Sea.

Aramco chief says Houthi attacks on Saudi had ‘no material impact’

The chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm, Aramco, said that attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels had no real effect on their oil production.

On Tuesday, Aramco president and CEO Amin H. Nasser told reporters that Houthi attacks “no material impact on our capabilities.”

Nasser added that this includes Houthi attacks in July which targeted the company’s operations on the Red Sea coast and elsewhere.

Houthis accused of deadly explosion

Yemen’s internationally recognized government has blamed the Houthi rebel group for a deadly landmine explosion in the western Hodeidah province.

The explosion late on Monday killed four people from the same family and injured six others, Anadolu reported.

The Hodeidah-based government accused the Houthis of planting the explosive in a statement today, and said the group’s widespread and indiscriminate mining has left the area heavily contaminated.

It also said Monday’s explosion was one of the deadliest incidents recorded in the province.

Yemen’s Houthis say they hit target at Saudi Arabia’s Najran airport

A statement by the group’s military says a drone has struck a “sensitive Saudi enemy target at Najran airport” in southern Saudi Arabia and achieved “a precise hit”.

It added: “This attack comes in response to the Saudi enemy’s violation of Yemeni airspace over Saada and Hajjah governorates using drones.”

Indian vessel hit near Yemeni waters in ‘unprovoked attack’, all sailors rescued: India’s shipping minister

India’s Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal says an Indian vessel has capsized and sunk after being struck by a projectile near Yemeni waters, in what he calls an “unprovoked attack”.

All 14 seafarers who were aboard the MSV Faize Noore Oliya ship, including 13 Indians, have been “safely rescued” by the Yemeni coast guard, according to Sonowal.

“I have instructed the Director General Maritime Administration (DGMA) to take immediate steps in coordination with all agencies to ensure the absolute security of Indian seafarers in the region and provide all necessary assistance to the rescued crew,” says Sonowal in a post on X.