Rebels Vow Free Passage for Ships

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have denied planning to charge ships for passing through the Red Sea, according to a statement issued Saturday by the Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC). The center oversees vessel movement through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and said its “safe transit service” remains voluntary and free of charge.

The statement urged shipping companies not to make payments or share information with unauthorized parties, adding that anyone demanding payment did not represent Yemen or the HOCC. It came in response to a Reuters report that cited regional sources claiming the Iran-aligned Houthis were considering imposing fees on ships transiting the strait.

Report Suggested Houthi-Iran Discussions

According to the Reuters report, the idea of charging fees was raised with Iranian officials during a Houthi visit to Tehran earlier in July; Iranian advisers reportedly helped set up an authority to regulate the fees. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is a vital chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is used by ships carrying oil and other cargo between Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Any fee on passage would echo Iran’s own efforts to charge ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut since the US-Israel war on Iran began earlier this year. Yemen’s foreign minister-designate, Afrah al-Zouba, said on Tuesday that the Houthis were seeking to “copy the Iranian model.”

Impact on Saudi Arabia

A toll on Bab al-Mandeb would hit Saudi Arabia especially hard, since the kingdom has increasingly relied on the strait as an alternative export route while Hormuz remains disrupted. The Houthis have waged a long campaign against Red Sea shipping, beginning in 2023 after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, and only paused attacks after a ceasefire last October.

A United Nations expert report found that the group may have collected significant informal fees from shipping agents in 2024, though this was never independently verified. Traffic through the strait has still not recovered to pre-2023 levels. In response to the renewed threat, Saudi Arabia announced a 14-nation maritime coalition this week aimed at protecting freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.