JWC Redraws Red Sea Risk Line to Jizan as Lloyd’s Suspends Cover for Saudi Tankers

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The Joint War Committee (JWC) expanded the Red Sea high-risk area northward on July 29, 2026, pushing the notification line close to the Saudi port of Jizan while keeping Egyptian waters outside the designation. The adjustment prompted Lloyd’s of London underwriters to suspend war risk coverage for Saudi-linked vessels and deepened a maritime crisis that has left the world’s top oil exporter pinned between a blocked Strait of Hormuz and a Houthi-enforced Red Sea embargo.

The JWC’s adjustment reflects ten days of escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping. On July 20, the Iran-backed movement declared a full maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, threatening to cut off the kingdom’s Red Sea oil corridor through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The blockade followed Saudi airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate on July 24 and 25, which Riyadh launched after the Houthis struck Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

On July 28, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on the Saudi-flagged product tanker NCC Ghazal in the southern Red Sea near Jizan. The 49,990-deadweight-tonne vessel, managed by Bahri Ship Management DMCC, turned back to port after the strike.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed that the master of an unidentified tanker heard an explosion while transiting the area, and that crew and vessel were safe.

Two days earlier, on July 26, Houthi forces struck Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu simultaneously. The attack on the 400,000-barrel-per-day Jizan refinery damaged its integrated gasification combined-cycle complex and tank farm, forcing a full shutdown.

Saudi Aramco expects repairs to be completed and operations to resume by August 15, according to a memo from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters. At Yanbu, Saudi air defenses intercepted two incoming ballistic missiles, but the port remains inside the Houthi blockade zone.

The Lloyd’s market reaction has been swift. The Financial Times reported on July 24 that leading underwriters including Ascot and Navium have notified brokers of their intention to cancel war risk and cargo policies for vessels with Saudi touchpoints.

Marcus Baker, a broker at Marsh, told the newspaper that Saudi Arabia could soon be categorized alongside Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom as a high-risk jurisdiction for marine underwriting.

The insurance pullback compounds an already severe operational squeeze. Saudi Arabia had pushed its East-West Pipeline to record throughput of roughly 7 million barrels per day to bypass the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz, making Yanbu the exit point for approximately 92 percent of the kingdom’s seaborne crude exports in June.

With Bab el-Mandeb now under Houthi blockade, tankers loading at Yanbu face the same adversary network that closed Hormuz. Several vessels have disabled AIS tracking to avoid detection, and marine traffic through the strait has fallen sharply.

Brent crude has surged above $100 per barrel, reflecting the dual chokepoint pressure. Front-month Brent touched $101.01 on July 23, its highest intraday level since May, after the Houthi tanker strikes.

A simultaneous suspension of loadings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s Black Sea terminal, following Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian tankers, has added a third supply shock to an already strained market.

Saudi-backed Yemeni government head Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address on July 20 that work would begin on resuming Yemen’s oil exports, though he gave no timeline. Diplomatic channels remain active, with Iranian officials telling Reuters that mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire to salvage a collapsed interim agreement.