Three Key Oil Shipping Routes Hit, Leaving No Safe Detour

Attacks now target three narrow waterways oil tankers rely on: Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb, and the Mediterranean route to Suez. Hormuz traffic has fallen from over 100 ships a day to under ten. Houthi strikes on Saudi tankers and a drone fire at Egypt's Damietta port have eliminated every backup path. Around 20% of the world's oil and gas had moved through Hormuz alone.