Half a dozen empty Saudi oil tankers have turned away in the Arabian Sea from the Red Sea chokepoint Bab el-Mandeb and headed south around Africa in the western direction, in highly unusual moves for tankers loading crude from the Middle East.
All six tankers turned away from Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthi threats to Saudi shipping and actual attacks on tankers prompted Saudi Arabia to re-route its crude oil exports, again, to Egypt.
The tankers are indicating destinations such as either Gibraltar or the South African ports of Durban or Algoa Bay, all of which are major refueling hubs, according to vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.
The round-Africa trip would add at least two weeks to the journey of a supertanker compared to a trip through Bab el-Mandeb northward toward the Suez Canal.
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Separately, more than half a dozen empty supertankers were en route to Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port early this week to pick up Saudi crude, as the world’s top crude oil exporter is re-routing – again – its export tactics to avoid the new threat for the Middle East’s chokepoints, the Bab el-Mandeb.
Since the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen announced last week a blockade on Saudi shipments in the southern Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Saudi Arabia has been shuttling on tankers more crude from Yanbu to the Egyptian port of Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea, and then on the SUMED onshore pipeline to Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port.
The Houthi threat, which resulted in attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea last week, has prompted Saudi and Western operators to divert laden tankers to the Suez Canal in Egypt to bypass the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
At least eight empty very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are signaling the port of Sidi Kerir as their destination, with all expected to arrive in the coming two to three weeks, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb have already forced at least one oil tanker carrying Saudi crude to Asia to choose the much longer route through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, and around Africa.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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