DOHA, September 28. /TASS/. Nearly 200 commercial vessels passed through the Bab al-Mandab Strait from September 22 to 26, according to the Ministry of Transport and Public Works controlled by Yemen's rebel Houthi movement, Ansar Allah.

"International shipping through this strategic waterway is operating normally. We recorded the passage of 198 commercial vessels over the past five days," the ministry said. According to the Houthis, 104 ships traveled north and 94 south.

Traffic peaked on September 25, when 50 vessels crossed the strait. The ministry said the actual figure could be higher because some crews switch off their tracking systems. Houthi representatives maintained that passage through Bab al-Mandab remains safe for all international ships "except vessels of the Saudi enemy."

In July, the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and subsequently attacked several Saudi-owned oil tankers. Ansar Allah launched an offensive in southwestern Yemen in early August and took control of the port city of Mokha and territory along the Bab al-Mandab Strait on September 10-11.