Two China-owned oil tankers carrying Saudi crude are navigating the Red Sea toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait despite Houthi blockade threats and recent missile attacks. The vessels are testing maritime restrictions imposed after Middle East conflicts effectively closed the nearby Strait of Hormuz, according to oilprice.com.
Chinese Tankers Press Through Bab el-Mandeb Chokepoint
Two China-owned and operated tankers loaded with Saudi crude continued on Thursday to travel in the Red Sea toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait despite the overnight Houthi attacks on Saudi vessels, ship-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg showed. The vessels, identified as the Xin Long Yang and the Cosnew Lake, are openly broadcasting their Chinese destination as they are traveling through the Red Sea approaching Bab el-Mandeb.
Both China-owned tankers had loaded Saudi crude at Yanbu over the past week, according to Bloomberg’s data. The VLCC Xin Long Yang, flagged in Singapore, and the Cosnew Lake, flying the Chinese flag, are both managed by Cosco Shipping. Each of these two Chinese crude carriers is carrying over 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, attempting to navigate past the Bab el-Mandeb Strait despite a Houthi-declared blockade in a dramatic effort to test the limits of the announced naval restrictions in the volatile Red Sea region.
Houthi Blockade Claims and Tanker Attacks
The current maritime tension follows an escalation of military activity in the region. The Middle East conflict took a turn for the worse on Wednesday and early Thursday after the U.S. military launched its 12th consecutive wave of strikes against Iranian military targets. Simultaneously, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis intensified threats against oil shipping in the Red Sea, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed an oil tanker had caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis announced they had expanded their campaign against maritime traffic by targeting Saudi oil shipments through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the key chokepoint on the Red Sea, through which Saudi Arabia has re-directed most of its crude oil shipments to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Their blockade pledges to tighten choke points after the nearby Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed due to U.S.-Iran conflicts, adding new complications for international shipping.
The Houthi group claimed responsibility for attacks on two Saudi tankers, while maritime security reports indicated that the Saudi-flagged tanker Encelia had been struck in the Red Sea. Houthi forces spokesman Yahya Saree made a direct statement regarding the operation, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named Encelia and Layla, for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,”
Yahya Saree, Houthi forces spokesman, via Oilprice.com
Diverging Traffic and Regional Supply Uncertainties
According to Iranian state media, the Houthis now claim to have forced at least nine ships to turn back from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after announcing a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. Early on Thursday, at least two tankers turned away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after Yemen’s Houthis said they have struck two Saudi tankers in the chokepoint in the latest Middle East war escalation, saying they had violated the naval blockade that the Yemeni forces declared earlier this week. According to reports, one of the tankers was loaded with Saudi crude for India and the other was carrying oil to China.
Managed by Cosco Shipping and carrying Saudi crude, these tankers highlight the geopolitical challenges of securing energy corridors amidst ongoing regional hostilities, exacerbating supply uncertainties in global energy markets as these vessels attempt to navigate past the Houthi-declared blockade.