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LE PHARE

State of the strait

Bab el-Mandeb Strait

week W28 · to 12 Jul · data refreshed 2026-07-12 · IMF PortWatch

0

Transit calls · W28 · to 12 Jul

-12 on the week

0

2024-25 weekly baseline

no flag this week

0%

Of baseline

steady

Bab el-Mandeb Strait: 226 weekly transits

All vessel transit calls per week, last 27 weeks, to 2026-07-12.

Source: IMF PortWatch · Graphic: Le Phare

Live picture

These waters run dark on open AIS: shore receivers are scarce or silenced here (war zone, jamming, ships switching off), and the satellite view that fills this gap is what underwriters pay for. The weekly series above still counts every transit — and the absence itself feeds the AIS integrity watch.

connecting to live feed…

underwaymoored / anchoredghost (earlier)

Live AIS: Fintraffic Digitraffic (Baltic, CC BY 4.0) · aisstream.io — one stream over all twelve straits, listening from the moment the page opens, last picture cached locally · faint ghost dots are the traffic heard in the last server session (refreshed every 6 h) and fade out as the live picture reaches its target · coverage relies on volunteer shore receivers and can run thin (Hormuz notably, where jamming also suppresses AIS) · vessels fade after 12 min of silence

Incidents in these waters

Curated events from public reporting (July 2024 onward), within the strait's monitored box. The full record, including the NGA ASAM archive, lives in the incident database.

  • 05 Jul 2026Cargo vesselThe vessel reported an attack by armed men in a skiff approximately 30 NM southwest of Al Hudaydah, exchanging fire before the craft withdrew, as the Houthis announced a renewed ban on Israeli-linked ships. Position approximate. Bloomberg
  • 12 Apr 2026Merchant vesselA skiff carrying armed men approached near Hodeidah and attempted to board; the skiff turned away after the master deployed a flare. Reported via UKMTO. Position approximate. Wikipedia · Timeline of the Red Sea crisis
  • 07 Jul 2025Bulk carrier ETERNITY C (Liberia flag)Assaulted over two days with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades, abandoned and sunk; at least four of the mostly Filipino crew were killed and others taken ashore — the deadliest attack of the Red Sea campaign. Position approximate. Wikipedia · Attacks on the Eternity C
  • 06 Jul 2025Bulk carrier MAGIC SEAS (Liberia flag)Attacked with unmanned surface vessels, missiles and small-arms fire; the crew abandoned ship and were rescued, and boarders later placed and detonated charges that sank her — the campaign's return after months of quiet. Position approximate. Seatrade Maritime
  • 01 Oct 2024Crude tanker CORDELIA MOON (Panama flag)Hit by an unmanned surface vessel and missile strikes claimed as eight missiles, a drone and an unmanned boat; the port ballast tank was breached but the vessel kept steaming. Position approximate. gCaptain
  • 02 Sept 2024Crude tanker BLUE LAGOON I (Panama flag)Struck by two ballistic missiles and a one-way attack drone while the SOUNION still burned nearby; the same day a second tanker was targeted off Yemen. Position approximate. USNI News
  • 21 Aug 2024Crude tanker SOUNION (Greek flag, Delta Tankers)Laden with 150,000 t of crude, attacked west of Hodeidah by gunfire and three projectiles, then boarded and rigged with explosives days later; the burning tanker drifted for weeks before salvage, the year's closest call to a catastrophic spill. Position approximate. Al Jazeera