Saudi oil tankers are disguising their destinations by signalling Egypt and the Suez Canal instead of home ports to avoid Houthi attacks
Tankers entering the Red Sea to load Saudi oil are signalling Egypt and the Suez Canal as their destinations instead of Saudi ports, as shipping companies try to avoid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement.
The shift comes after the Iran-backed group announced a blockade of Saudi ports in late July and attacked vessels linked to the kingdom in the Red Sea, according to Bloomberg’s report.
The Houthis have since threatened to expand attacks to Saudi ships in the northern Red Sea, where Saudi Aramco has diverted more oil cargoes to seek safer routes out of the region.
Saudi oil tankers change course
One example is the Sea Majesty, which approached the Suez Canal this week with a draft indicating it had likely loaded oil inside the Red Sea while sailing “dark,” meaning its tracking transponder was switched off.
Shipping data firms Vortexa and Kpler said satellite imagery and vessel data indicate the tanker picked up a cargo at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port. However, the vessel never publicly signalled Saudi Arabia as its destination and instead listed Egypt’s Ain Sukhna.
Another tanker, the Maran Thetis, also signalled that it was heading toward the Suez Canal while idling in the Gulf of Aden in late July. When it reappeared on tracking systems Wednesday, it was fully laden, with Vortexa identifying Yanbu as the likely source of its cargo.
Egypt becomes a safer route
Ain Sukhna has storage tanks and pipelines supporting oil flows through the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most important shipping routes linking Asia and Europe. Saudi Arabia has increasingly redirected oil shipments toward Ain Sukhna and Egypt’s Sidi Kerir, which are farther from Houthi positions in Yemen.
The strategy reflects a wider effort by shipping companies to conceal vessel movements as attacks increase across the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
Other vessels, including the Front Empire and DHT Gazelle, have also reportedly loaded cargoes while sailing dark inside the Red Sea before reappearing on tracking platforms and exiting through the Suez Canal.
Houthi attacks raise new risks
Saudi Arabia has maintained its oil exports despite the attacks, but the safety of Egyptian ports could become less certain if the Houthis expand their reach.
Business Insider Africa previously reported that tankers carrying Saudi and Russian oil were increasingly avoiding the Red Sea and taking the longer route around Africa as security threats disrupted the key shipping corridor.
Saudi Arabia has also diverted some Asia-bound crude from Yanbu to Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, allowing Asian buyers to collect oil from the Mediterranean instead of using the increasingly risky Red Sea route.
Source: Africabusinessinsider