Red Sea Oil Exports Vanish as Tanker Companies Avoid Houthi Attacks
Yemen's Houthi group has been declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia since July 20, opening a new front in the Iran war. As a result, Saudi crude exports from the Red Sea are increasingly vanishing from view as tankers switch off tracking signals to avoid attacks.
Tanker companies and shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea have been affected by two years of sporadic Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. An average of 32 vessels a day transited the waterway last week, down from about 50 a day before the group announced its latest blockade.
Shipping data shows that Saudi Arabia has been sending more oil north through the Red Sea, either via the Suez Canal or Egypt's SUMED pipeline. Crude and condensate loadings at Sidi Kerir averaged a record 2.17 million bpd last week, around 50% higher than the previous week.
The cost of war risk insurance has jumped in recent days, and tanker companies are shifting their sailing strategies. DHT CEO Svein Moxnes Harfjeld said on an earnings call that most VLCC loadings have been directed north, northwest now.