Sudan has backed Saudi Arabia’s right to protect its ports after a Houthi maritime blockade threat prompted three tankers carrying Saudi crude to reverse course in the Red Sea, according to Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khartoum said the threat posed a direct risk to navigation, could damage the security and economic interests of coastal states and carried potentially serious consequences for regional stability.
Sudan urged the Houthi movement to refrain from action against Saudi or other Red Sea ports and called for greater international pressure on armed groups that threaten commercial shipping.
The intervention followed a July 20 notice sent to shipping companies by the Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center in Sanaa. The measure took effect at 1201 GMT and instructed companies not to load or discharge cargo at Saudi ports, warning that vessels breaching the restriction could be targeted within Houthi operational reach.
VLCC Xin Long Yang, carrying 2m barrels loaded at Yanbu for China, turned north towards the Suez Canal. Rodos, carrying about 700,000 barrels for India, and Amazon, also carrying a cargo for India, reversed course towards Suez.
War-risk insurance costs for Red Sea voyages increased during the following 24 hours. No attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea had been confirmed during the preceding 48 hours. Yanbu continued loading vessels already inside the Red Sea or arriving from the north through Suez, although several tankers had switched off their tracking transponders.
Saudi Arabia rejected the allegation that it was blockading Yemen and said Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa had received more than 300 ships carrying food, fuel, construction materials and other goods during the first half of 2026. Riyadh said it would take all necessary measures to protect Saudi vessels under international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.