Three Maritime Chokepoints Under Fire, Leaving Oil Tankers Nowhere Safe to Reroute

Attacks now span three vital corridors simultaneously: the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Mediterranean approaches to the Suez Canal. Hormuz traffic has collapsed from over 100 vessels daily to single digits. Houthi strikes on Saudi tankers and a drone-caused fire at Egypt's Damietta port have eliminated every major alternative route. Roughly 20% of global oil and gas previously transited Hormuz alone.