A second front. The Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on 20 July, and tankers carrying Saudi crude for China and India have turned back toward the Suez Canal. Saudi loadings through the strait fell 36 per cent in the two weeks to 13 July, to 6.1 million barrels a day from a peak of 9.5 million, on Kpler figures reported by The National. Around six million barrels a day of Asia-bound crude is now exposed, and Al Jazeera reckons Bab el-Mandeb and the already-shut Strait of Hormuz together sit over a quarter of the world's oil and gas. Brent rose again on 22 July, up 1.3 per cent to around 92 dollars.
Hormuz still shut. The US naval blockade of Iran was reinstated on 14 July and a fresh round of US strikes ran into 22 July. The threat to shipping is direct: Iran struck two UAE supertankers, the Mombasa and the Al Bahyah, on 15 July, killing one sailor and injuring eight, per The National.
Cover holds, crews do not. Hull war-risk premiums are running at 3 to 10 per cent of a ship's value, up from about 0.25 per cent before the crisis, per The National. Cover is still available in London and owners are pausing on safety grounds, per the Lloyd's Market Association via gCaptain. About 6,000 seafarers were trapped in the region as of 8 July, on IMO figures.
No clean way round. The Suez reroute stretches a Yanbu to South Korea voyage from about 24 days to 54, and the largest crude carriers cannot use the canal at all, per Al Jazeera.
Martyn's Law. The SIA's consultation on its section 12 guidance has closed with nearly 200 responses. Final guidance is due in autumn 2026 and the Act comes into force in spring 2027, per GOV.UK.
Tradecraft. GNSS jamming and spoofing is a standing hazard in both Hormuz and the Red Sea. Treat positioning as degraded, cross-check by radar and visual bearing, and drill a no-GPS transit, per Skuld's 29 June update.
Haiti. The Gang Suppression Force has about 1,000 of its 5,550 personnel deployed and will not reach full strength until October, while around 26 gangs still control up to 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince. The Security Council takes its 90-day look this month, per Security Council Report.
