Disrupted Saudi tanker traffic goes dark following Houthi embargo
- Saudi Red Sea tanker traffic has all but vanished from public view, with no traceable crude tanker calls since July 23 and operators increasingly resorting to dark port calls and untracked transits through Bab el Mandeb
- The Houthi embargo is already reshaping shipping patterns, with at least 11 tankers going dark off Yanbu and eight vessels reversing course to avoid the Red Sea chokepoint
- Disruption threatens a crucial Saudi export outlet, potentially forcing longer and costlier diversion routes that could tighten tanker capacity, alter global crude trade flows and increase costs for Asian buyers
Saudi oil exports from the Red Sea are increasingly disappearing from view as tanker operators switch off tracking signals or abandon voyages in response to a Houthi maritime embargo, threatening a key alternative export route already strained by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz
