Millions of barrels of Saudi Arabian crude are still being shipped from the nation’s Red Sea coast to the global market, despite threats and attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants against the kingdom’s shipping that have the potential to further destabilize the global oil trade.
Days after the Iran-backed group declared a blockade of Saudi Arabia, Western shipowners appear to be making plans to avoid Bab el-Mandeb strait, at the southern end of the sea, or to sail through it with their transponders turned off. Meanwhile, vessels owned by Iran-affiliated nations like China are still crossing it while hauling Riyadh’s oil.
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Oil tanker owners and traders are on high alert for disruption in the area after Monday’s blockade warning and a subsequent attack on at least one Saudi ships.
The Red Sea port of Yanbu is one of the oil-market’s most important workarounds while Iran tries to stop oil from flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. The most recent satellite images from the European Union, taken two days after the blockade was announced, show that there were tankers berthed at four of the kingdom’s seven crude export berths.
