Oil tankers carrying Saudi and Russian cargoes are increasingly abandoning the Red Sea in favour of the much longer route around Africa, as renewed security threats in one of the world's busiest shipping corridors continue to disrupt global energy trade.
According to Bloomberg, six Saudi-owned Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) recently sailed away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait instead of transiting the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
The ships, operated by Saudi Arabia's national shipping company, Bahri, appear to be taking the safer journey around the Cape of Good Hope, a detour that adds at least two weeks to voyages destined for Asia.
The diversion comes as Saudi Arabia reroutes some Asia-bound crude exports from its Red Sea terminal at Yanbu to Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir. The move aligns with the kingdom's efforts to introduce a new pricing mechanism that allows Asian buyers to collect crude from the Mediterranean rather than relying on the increasingly risky Red Sea route.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, is a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies, handling millions of barrels of oil every day.
