Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces say they have secured effective control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the chokepoint that carries Gulf oil between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, after a rapid coastal advance backed by heavy Saudi air power on October 5.

Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told Reuters on Monday that the military had seized key positions in the Dhubab area, at the narrowest point of the strait, including the Dhubab airstrip just inland. He said government forces had cut off remaining Houthi fighters in the area.

The claim does not mean the fighting is over. A second government source said combat continued at a military base near the strait. The Houthis denied the government had made any gains at all, calling such claims "completely untrue," and threatened to attack any aircraft flying in Saudi airspace.

What does recapture mean for shipping?

For carriers and shipowners, the operational takeaway is narrower than the headline suggests. Recapturing the coastal strip around the strait makes it harder for the Iran-backed Houthis to disrupt traffic between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It does not eliminate the threat.

The Houthis can still target vessels with drones launched from positions further up the coast and inland, meaning war-risk exposure on Suez-connected routes persists even if the corridor itself changes hands. The group seized the strait's approaches last month, a move that sent shockwaves through energy markets, and has continued firing missiles and drones at Saudi cities and infrastructure.

The stakes for global supply chains are unusually high because the Bab el-Mandeb threat stacks on top of another closure. Gulf energy exports are already restricted by Iran's shutdown of the Hormuz Strait, and the Yemen fighting has threatened a second major oil export route, pushing up global prices and compounding risk across a region already in conflict.

How did the offensive unfold?

The internationally recognized Yemeni government announced the launch of its offensive on Sunday. President Rashad al-Alimi swore to fight "until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia."

Saudi Arabia, which arms and trains the government forces, is providing air cover and has sought logistical help from allies. Riyadh said on Monday it had struck hundreds of targets in Yemen to support operations around the strait and the ground advance. The Yemeni government said it had opened attacks on several fronts, including in Sanaa province, where the Houthi-run health ministry reported two people killed and seven wounded in strikes on the Sanhan and Sa'wan districts.

Saudi Arabia's stated objectives run directly at the shipping industry's interests: push back the Houthis, restore free traffic in the Red Sea, and end attacks on Saudi territory.

Where is the heaviest fighting?

The southwest remains the war's center of gravity, both on the coast near the strait and in the hills around Taiz, where the Houthis have been battling to encircle government forces — and where they are making gains even as they lose ground at sea.

Five government military sources said the Houthis had captured sections of a mountain road near Taiz, leaving government forces there besieged, though one other government source denied the road had been cut. Last week, Houthi attacks damaged a culvert on the Taiz-Aden road, rendering it impassable.

On Sunday night, Houthi fighters pushed into al-Turbah, a town atop a high promontory on that road, according to five government military sources. Another government source disputed the claim. A Houthi-run news agency quoted a military source saying the group had driven government forces from al-Mawasit district in Taiz province, reaching the home of President Alimi.

Those advances leave Taiz — Yemen's third-largest city, with more than half a million residents and a garrison of thousands of government fighters — surrounded, according to the government military sources. In the al-Mudhaffar area just outside the city, a long queue formed outside a petrol station on Monday as residents waited for fuel and cooking gas.

"This is the daily state in Taiz. The suffering of citizens continues in this state," said Shehab Hazaa, one man queuing.

What comes next?

The war resumed this summer after a ceasefire agreed in 2022 held for years, with the dormant civil war reigniting as a spillover from the US-Iran conflict. The UN migration agency said on Monday that some 184,000 people have been displaced since fighting resumed.

The conflict itself dates to 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition intervention the following year that ground into a bloody stalemate and a major humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest state.

For shippers and underwriters, the immediate question is whether the Dhubab positions hold and whether Saudi air cover can suppress the Houthi drone capability further up the coast; until both are confirmed, expect elevated war-risk pricing on Red Sea transits and continued rerouting pressure even with the strait nominally back in government hands.