Mandeb Strait Traffic Plunges to Single Digits After Houthi Capture of Mocha

The collapse from roughly thirty daily transits to six is not a routing inconvenience but a de facto closure of a chokepoint that carries a meaningful share of Europe-Asia container and energy flows. The Houthis now hold a Red Sea port city, which shifts the risk calculus for every carrier and insurer pricing the corridor, not just the vessels already diverting. The open question is whether the near-halt persists or proves a brief shock reaction, and how quickly alternative routing absorbs the volume.