The India-flagged cargo vessel MSV Faize Noore Oliya sank in the Red Sea on August 5 after being struck by a projectile near Hodeidah, Yemen; all 14 crew members, including 13 Indian nationals, were rescued by Yemeni forces; India's Ministry of External Affairs called continued attacks on merchant shipping 'deeply worrisome' and said it would press for freedom of navigation

An unidentified drone struck two gas tankers at Egypt's Damietta port on July 30, Egypt's cabinet said; investigators found the cause was an unidentified drone that started a fire on board; Damietta lies near the Suez Canal, which had remained an alternative Saudi oil export route after Iran and its Houthi allies closed the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb to northbound traffic; the strike signals the conflict may be expanding to Egypt's Mediterranean coast

Saudi Arabia hosted a founding meeting in Riyadh on July 30 and announced a multinational maritime defence coalition to protect the Bab al-Mandab strait and Red Sea shipping; 14 nations signed up at the first meeting, while Saudi Arabia has proposed expanding the alliance to 43 members; the coalition aims to protect shipping lanes under renewed Houthi attacks that have pushed oil prices higher

Saudi Arabia announced July 30 in Riyadh that 14 countries have signed on to a new multinational maritime defence coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden; the Riyadh-headquartered coalition is the first formal multilateral security structure Saudi Arabia has established to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels, and Riyadh is seeking to expand membership to 43 nations

Yemen's Houthi movement attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and off the United Arab Emirates coast on or around July 27; Singapore's Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks, and oil prices fell sharply as traders weighed the strikes against the broader pause in US-Iran hostilities

Iranian state media reported a US missile strike on Larak Island at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz on July 22; Washington did not confirm the attack; the US deployed B-1 Lancer bombers against Iran for the first time since the war resumed; Trump warned of a 'massive attack' if Iran fails to negotiate and threatened to bomb bridges in Tehran; Defense Secretary Hegseth told US senators the conflict has cost US$37.5 billion

Tankers are turning back in the Red Sea after Yemen's Houthis threatened to enforce a blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, while the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to commercial shipping as the US-Iran war continues; US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators the war has cost the United States US$37.5 billion so far, and Iranian forces have struck US military sites in the Gulf and Jordan

The Houthi group declared an immediate maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia on July 20, citing what it called an unjust Saudi siege on Yemen, a move that analysts say threatens Saudi oil export routes and draws the Houthi conflict closer to the global energy market

Armed attackers in a skiff traded gunfire with security guards aboard a bulk carrier off Houthi-controlled Hodeidah on July 5; UKMTO advised all ships to transit with caution as the attack ended a roughly three-month commercial shipping ceasefire

South Africa's rocky southern cape where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean, the primary bypass route when Suez or Hormuz close, carrying 11% of global seaborne oil.

Eight narrow passages where geography concentrates enough energy and cargo that a single closure cascades into higher freight rates and global supply disruption.

Egypt's 193-kilometer artificial waterway connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, carrying 12-15 percent of global trade and the world's most strategically contested shipping chokepoint.

Three months of quiet on commercial vessels is a 'structured pause under tension,' not a truce; the group says it will resume and could close the strait if the US-Iran war restarts