The Houthi militia is digging trenches near Bab al-Mandab and laying mines in the sea, reports Al Arabiya citing sources

Naval mines are the step that has historically mattered most for freight, since even the suspicion of mining raises war-risk insurance premia sharply and pulls tonnage off the route regardless of whether any vessel is struck; mine clearance is slow, which extends the disruption well beyond the last actual incident. The actors are established in their form: this militia has previously targeted commercial vessels and absorbed retaliatory strikes without withdrawing from the waterway. The transmission channels to watch are Suez-diversion rates, tanker and container spot freight, insurance pricing on Red Sea transits, and crude and product flows that normally transit the strait. Worth noting whether the report is corroborated by commercial shipping advisories or coalition naval statements, since single-source field reports in this conflict have varied in reliability. The pattern in comparable chokepoint episodes is that energy and freight markets price the risk premium early and retrace only on verified clearance, not on announcements.