Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on two Saudi oil tankers

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing its staff and Reuters, reported on July 22, 2026, that Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree identified the vessels as ENCELA and LAYLIA and said they were targeted because the group considered them in breach of a naval blockade it had announced against Saudi-linked shipping. He said the operation involved ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.

Saudi Arabia had not responded to the Houthi claim at the time of the report. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which tracks maritime security incidents, said it had received a report from a tanker master that an unknown projectile hit the vessel and caused a fire that the crew was trying to extinguish. The UKMTO statement cited in the report did not identify the tanker as one of the vessels named by the Houthis.

Al Jazeera reported that the Houthi blockade announcement came on July 20, after renewed violence in Yemen, including a Yemeni government strike on Houthi-controlled Sanaa Airport that was described as aimed at preventing an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade.

The incident matters because the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait are critical routes for energy and commercial shipping, especially when other Gulf routes are disrupted. The report noted that Saudi Arabia has been seeking alternative oil export routes through the Red Sea, while renewed Houthi threats could again raise risks for vessels using the corridor.