Twin Chokepoint Shock: Houthis Seize Mayyun Island In Bab el-Mandeb Strait As Hormuz Disruptions Persist

Three converging threats to watch are intensifying pressure on global energy markets: damage to Russian refining capacity, ongoing disruption at Hormuz, and new, expanding Houthi threats to Red Sea shipping. The resulting physical market squeeze extends well beyond the Gulf area. Record-high diesel prices in the US and other markets, such as China's return to buying crude, raise the risk that oil markets will remain exceptionally tight into the Northern Hemisphere winter. 

What we know so far is that the Russia-Ukraine war has knocked out a whole bunch of refining capacity and halted exports of critical fuels from Russia. The Gulf area has seen an escalation in fighting this week as the Hormuz chokepoint remains open with tanker transits but still limited and far from pre-war levels. 

Couple this all with the chokepoint madness still being disrupted and new developments overnight: Iran-backed Houthi forces advanced toward a strategic port near the southern entrance to the Red Sea, threatening to tighten control on a second critical shipping corridor. 

Bloomberg reported that Houthi rebels have gained ground around Mokha, with some geopolitical analysts reporting that the Yemeni port city has fallen. 

🇾🇪 Total collapse: The entire coastline from Dhubab to Mayyun island was abandoned. Mayyun, Duhbab and Murd now controlled by Houthi forces as of September 11

A major global event. The Houthis now have the capacity to block ships now more than ever. Bab Al Mandab at their mercy https://t.co/ycUtzCcPq8 pic.twitter.com/EfVc5GdbZv

— The Cube (@war_cube) September 11, 2026

Its fall would give the Houthis another coastal stronghold alongside Hodeida and the ability to control more of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, suggesting commercial traffic could begin to drop and transits would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing shipping time and freight costs. 

Alternative Route: Cape of Good Hope

On top of this, China has returned to global oil markets, and ex-Goldman Commodities head Jeff Currie warned Thursday that this is the real driver of soaring crude prices. 

Also overnight, Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline appears to have been struck by Houthi forces, which the pipeline served as an oil escape route, effectively bypassing the Hormuz chokepoint to the Red Sea.

Andrew Farrand, a political-risk analyst at Horizon Engage, described the rapid Houthi advance as a major setback for Saudi efforts in Yemen, warning that it could bring the Houthis closer to territory overlooking the waterway's narrowest section. 

Simultaneous disruption of Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Strait of Hormuz creates a two-sided squeeze: less energy can leave the Gulf, while tankers that can move face longer, more expensive journeys. It also threatens Saudi Arabia's Red Sea terminal.

Beyond Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, these are the main straits to watch: 

Global Maritime Chokepoints

Where the routes narrow

What could interrupt commercial traffic

The twin disruptions threaten shipping corridors that carried roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade through Hormuz and through Bab el-Mandeb, while jeopardizing a Red Sea shipping route central to trade between Asia and Europe and risking ignition of a stagflationary squeeze as diesel prices soar to new highs that eventually feed into supply chains, freight costs, and ultimately, at a lag, higher prices on store shelves.