Saudi Supertanker Sighting in Persian Gulf Ends Month-Long Absence

A supertanker has been spotted at Saudi Arabia's main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf, marking the first such sighting in nearly a month. The vessel can load approximately 2 million barrels of crude and was captured on satellite image from the European Union's Sentinel 2 orbiter, taken on Tuesday.

The last time a ship was seen at this location was mid-July, although daily satellite images are not available. Saudi Arabia had increased its Persian Gulf exports in response to a brief interim peace deal between the US and Iran earlier this year, which allowed tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

However, few ships have been observed at the kingdom's ports inside the Gulf since then. To mitigate the situation, Riyadh has redirected millions of barrels daily to its Red Sea port of Yanbu, making it more difficult to track these flows.