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Dark tanker transits rise at Bab el-Mandeb as Houthi threat persists

OilPrice says vessel tracking data indicates more Saudi crude shipments are transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with transponders off after the Houthis threatened to disrupt Red Sea exports.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Energy

OilPrice reports that the Houthi threat to Saudi crude shipments through the Red Sea has persisted, with more tankers appearing to pass the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint in “dark mode,” meaning transponders were switched off during transit. The outlet cites Bloomberg, saying two tankers loaded with Saudi crude at Yanbu have likely exited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the south, with their transponders off. OilPrice identifies the Greece-owned Suezmax tanker Lesvos and the Indian-flagged supertanker Desh Vaibhav, noting the data showed they were last transmitting near Yanbu on Saturday before reappearing on AIS monitoring offshore southern Oman on Monday. OilPrice adds that satellite images showed at least five tankers berthed at the Yanbu port on Saturday, which it describes as potentially the busiest day at the Saudi port on the Red Sea since the Houthis threatened to disrupt Saudi oil exports two weeks earlier. Since the announcement of an attempt to choke shipments, Saudi Arabia has rerouted some exports northward to Egypt and the Suez Canal, while other vessels have increasingly gone dark while transiting to the south.

OilPrice also points to last week’s pattern, saying six tankers turned away in the Arabian Sea from Bab el-Mandeb after Houthi threats and attacks on tankers led Saudi Arabia to redirect crude exports again to Egypt. The outlet says the tankers indicated destinations such as Gibraltar, before the disruptions related to the Red Sea threat escalated.

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