Oil Tanker Fleet Moves Toward Red Sea as Saudi Ships Reroute Away From Hormuz

Saudi Arabia Mobilizes Supertanker Fleet Amid Strait of Hormuz Crisis

At least 25 supertankers are en route to the Saudi port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, as the nation urgently seeks alternative routes to export its oil following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing conflict with Iran.

According to ship-tracking data, this armada could transport up to 50 million barrels of oil from Yanbu. If these vessels are able to load and depart as planned, it would significantly ease the severe disruption to global energy supplies caused by the Persian Gulf conflict.

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The compiled data reflects only those ships that have declared Yanbu as their destination within the past 48 hours. The actual number of tankers may be higher, as vessels often conceal their routes for security, particularly during periods of heightened tension.

Since the outbreak of hostilities between the US, Israel, and Iran, Saudi Arabia has faced significant challenges moving crude through the Strait of Hormuz. With daily drone and missile attacks across the Persian Gulf, most shipping companies now consider the strait too dangerous to navigate.

The war has led to a roughly 6% reduction in worldwide oil production, with countries like Iraq and Kuwait forced to shut down oil fields that lack alternative export routes. While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also adjusted their output, they are uniquely positioned to circumvent the Strait of Hormuz by utilizing pipelines to the Red Sea and Fujairah, respectively.

During a recent earnings call, Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, announced that the company is increasing crude shipments through its east-west pipeline, which can handle up to 7 million barrels per day.

“We expect to reach full capacity within a few days,” Nasser stated. “This is part of our broader effort to shift tanker operations from the east to the west.”

The United Arab Emirates is also boosting exports via a pipeline connecting its main oil fields to the port of Fujairah, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Data from Kpler and Bloomberg indicate that shipments from Fujairah have climbed to approximately 1.6 million barrels per day this month, up from a recent average of 1.1 million.

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With contributions from Alex Longley.

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