Houthis seize Perim Island in Bab el-Mandeb

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Houthis seize island in Bab el-Mandeb, taking control of the strait euronews.com

nbcnews.com

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities shout slogans during a rally to recruit more fighters, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday.Mohammed Huwais / AFP via Getty Images nbcnews.com

A 60-mile smoke plume along the route of the East-West oil pipeline, south of MedinaCopernicus/Sentinel-3 nbcnews.com

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Houthi forces have taken Perim Island in Yemen’s Bab el-Mandeb strait after government troops withdrew, according to Euronews and NBC News. The island—also known as Mayyun—sits between the strait’s two shipping lanes, and the advance follows the group’s capture of the port city of Mokha. Yemeni government military sources cited by Euronews said the Houthis also seized Dhubab and the coastal village of Murad, and have besieged government troops on the Hanish islands.

The move lands on one of the world’s most sensitive maritime chokepoints at a moment when shipping and energy markets are already being forced to price in political risk. Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gateway to the Red Sea route linking Europe and Asia; nearly one-third of global container traffic passes through the Red Sea, Euronews reports. Together with the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb accounts for more than a quarter of seaborne crude oil and petroleum trade. When a small number of armed men can credibly threaten a narrow waterway, insurers, shipowners, and refiners adjust first—often long before a blockade is formally declared.

Both outlets describe a pattern familiar from earlier phases of the Yemen war: territorial gains paired with public assurances that commerce will not be harmed. Houthi officials told media that navigation and international trade remain “safe and orderly,” while an eyewitness cited by Euronews described gunmen deploying along the shore and moving in military vehicles. NBC News notes that analysts caution against treating the advance as full “sovereign control” of the entire strait, since the western littoral lies outside Houthi-held territory. But for shipping companies choosing routes and for governments trying to keep energy flowing, partial control can be enough: the question is not who owns the coastline on paper, but who can launch missiles, place mines, or detain vessels—and how quickly outside powers would respond.

The timing also matters. NBC News reports Saudi Arabia has leaned on the Red Sea route for exports after disruptions at Hormuz earlier this year amid war involving the U.S., Israel and Iran. If Bab el-Mandeb becomes similarly unreliable, tankers and container ships have fewer easy alternatives, and rerouting around Africa imposes longer voyages, higher fuel burn, and tighter global capacity. Euronews reports the Houthis had consulted with Tehran over the summer about imposing a “safe passage toll” through the strait—an approach that turns a military position into a revenue stream and makes commercial traffic a bargaining chip.

Perim Island is small on the map, but it sits where ships must pass between two continents. On Friday, the internationally recognised Yemeni government’s forces were appealing for rescue, food and water from besieged island positions that would require air support to relieve.