Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement controlling most of Yemen including the Red Sea coastline, denied on August 1 that it was imposing transit fees on vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, calling reports of the charges "fabrications by Gulf media outlets seeking to delegitimize Yemen's sovereign authority over its territorial waters." [1]
The denial came after multiple shipping industry sources reported that Houthi-aligned authorities had begun requiring vessels to pay between $50,000 and $150,000 per transit, depending on cargo type and vessel size. The reported fees were described as "harbor management charges" — a euphemism that reframes territorial control as administrative procedure. [3]
The critical question is not whether the fees exist, but what the denial itself reveals. By characterizing the reports as fabrications rather than addressing the underlying control question, Ansar Allah implicitly confirmed its operational authority over the strait. The pattern mirrors Iran's control over Hormuz — a group that does not control a waterway does not need to deny charging for passage through it. The denial is, paradoxically, a declaration of sovereignty.
Bab el-Mandeb is one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints. Approximately 12 percent of global trade and 30 percent of the world's container traffic passes through the strait. The Suez Canal, through which a significant portion of Europe-Asia trade flows, depends on free passage through Bab el-Mandeb. Any disruption — whether through fees, inspection requirements, or outright blockade — has cascading effects on global supply chains. [2]
The Houthis' control of the strait has been tolerated, contested, and occasionally enforced by the international community since the movement seized Sanaa in 2014. The current escalation, in which the group has been conducting drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping since November 2023, represents the most significant disruption to Bab el-Mandeb since the strait was briefly closed during the 1973 Arab oil embargo.
The denial also raises a jurisdictional question. Under international law, the strait is an international waterway. No state — and certainly no non-state actor — has the legal authority to impose transit fees on vessels exercising the right of innocent passage. If Ansar Allah is indeed charging fees, it is not merely disrupting trade; it is asserting sovereign authority over international waters in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.