China negotiates directly with Houthis for safe passage through Red Sea

LONDON/DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - China has held direct talks with Yemen's Houthi movement to enable its tankers to sail through the southern Red Sea without being attacked after the Iran-aligned militia pledged to prevent access to Saudi ​ports, six sources with knowledge of the matter have said.

The Houthis declared their blockade on July 20, opening ‌a new front against the U.S. and its allies in the Iran war and expanding attacks on tankers carrying energy and other supplies to markets beyond the Middle East.

Beijing has asked the Houthis directly to promise safe passage for its tankers, according to the sources, who included a senior Iranian official.

China was among the ​first countries to contact the Houthis directly about transits through Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the southern end of the ​Red Sea with Yemen on its eastern bank, said the sources, who declined to be identified due ⁠to the sensitivity of the matter.

Beijing is seeking to keep oil exports flowing from Saudi ​Arabia's Red Sea terminals, principally Yanbu, to help plug the gap in supplies caused by Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz at the ​exit from the Gulf.

China's transport ministry, the Houthis' media office and Iran's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At least four tankers have loaded crude from Saudi ports bound for China and transited Bab el-Mandeb since the Houthis announced their restrictions, according to Kpler analysis and LSEG and MarineTraffic ship ​tracking data.

Chinese officials have cleared each vessel individually with the Houthis, one of the sources said, and both sides have informed Iran ​of their actions, two officials in the region briefed by Tehran told Reuters.

The Houthis have told international shipping companies in an email that vessels may ‌be attacked ⁠if they load or discharge cargo at Saudi Arabian ports.

Some tankers trying to enter the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb have changed course because of safety worries, two separate Chinese trade sources said.

The New Champion and New Prime oil supertankers both sailed back out of the Gulf of Aden into open waters, according to analysis from Lloyd's List Intelligence and MarineTraffic ship tracking data.

The ​New Champion had been due to ​call at Yanbu to load ⁠oil, while the New Prime was already loaded with oil, according to Kpler and other industry data and ship tracking.

The two vessels' operator, Hong Kong-based Associated Maritime, did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.

The Houthis said last week they had carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi ​oil tankers, the ⁠Encelia and the Layla. Maritime security sources confirmed the strike on the Encelia, though Reuters could not immediately confirm the attack on the Layla.

Sailing southward from Yanbu to Asia through Bab el-Mandeb takes on average 16 days. If the ship turns north for the Suez Canal and then ⁠sails west ​and south around Africa, it takes 50 days.

The Houthis have maintained good relations ​with China and there has been close coordination in the past between them, especially on oil shipments to China from Saudi Arabia, two sources close to the Houthis told ​Reuters.