EU’s 21st Sanctions Package: Full Maritime Services Ban Shelved
The EU’s 21st sanctions package has been released and, as anticipated, the proposal for a full maritime services ban was shelved, allowing European shipowners and marine service providers to continue shipping Russia oil, so long as it is sold at prices below the Oil Price Cap. Most of the package had already been trailed, but…
Read more
The Red Sea Reopens as a Second Front While Saudi Crude Routes Around the Blockade
At a Glance Operational Overview The Red Sea has reopened as a second active front. The Houthis resumed attacks on July 22 following a September 2025 ceasefire, hit a Saudi Aramco refinery at Jizan on July 25, and launched missiles intercepted before reaching Yanbu. Four vessels have been hit or affected across the reporting period….
Read more
Selective Enforcement: Saudi Crude Keeps Moving Under the Houthi Blockade
A Blockade, Declared and Partly Kinetic On July 20, Houthi-aligned forces announced a full naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, framed as retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa airport. The declaration named Saudi, Israeli, and U.S.-linked tonnage as targets. Within days, Houthi channels claimed strikes on two Saudi tankers. One is corroborated: UKMTO logged a projectile…
Read more
Two Days After the Houthi Blockade Announcement, the Red Sea Split in Two
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20, escalating threats across the Red Sea corridor while Iranian forces struck three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. That ambiguity is doing real work. Within a day, Windward tracked the market splitting into two opposite flows: commercial tonnage pulling back…
Read more
