Shipping traffic through Bab el-Mandeb surges to weekly high

Among those exiting, three were Aframax tankers carrying crude. The Aisopos and Gustav exited to the Gulf of Aden, each carrying more than 750,000 barrels of oil, while the Karachi is carrying around 430,000 barrels of crude bound for Pakistan.

Of the ships that entered, two were tankers carrying petrochemical products. The Velos Aquarius is carrying 345,000 barrels of methyl tertiary butyl ether, a type of gasoline blendstock, for delivery to the west of Suez and the Sea Ambition is carrying nearly 93,000 barrels of chemicals bound for Turkey.

Some ships could still be sailing with their transponders turned off. Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, stepping up enforcement of a newly declared maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.