Chokepoint Data · the Strait of Hormuz crisis

Houthis strike two Saudi tankers in Red Sea, opening second front

2026-07-22 · shipping · major

Yemen's Houthis announced on Wednesday 22 July that they had attacked the Saudi oil tankers Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, the first strikes since the group declared a naval blockade of Saudi-linked shipping on 20 July. Saudi state media confirmed a fire at the bow of the Encelia with all crew safe; the reported attack on the Bahri VLCC Layla was not independently confirmed. The next day, President Trump said the US would hold Iran responsible for future Houthi attacks.

Brent next close +0.3% · +7 days -2.0% · transits 4.1 → 2.6 per day · barely moved — smaller than 88% of pre-crisis days

Attribution caveat: 1 other major event(s) sit inside this one's ±7-day window (2026-07-26 US and Iran pause strikes for second straight day), so the reaction is not cleanly separable.

Sources

Al Jazeera · Seatrade Maritime · CNBC

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Computed, not asserted — every number here is derived from public data: official EIA Brent closes via FRED, IMF PortWatch transit counts, Polymarket and Kalshi odds, and source-linked curated events. Method and caveats · Atom feed · llms.txt

https://chokepointdata.com/event/2026-07-22-houthis-strike-two-saudi-tankers-in-red-sea-opening-second-f/