Ships sail across the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal, in El Ain El Sokhna in Suez, east of Cairo, Egypt, March 17, 2018. Picture taken March 17, 2018. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – Four tankers changed their navigational course in the Red Sea on Wednesday with two signaling the Suez Canal as their new destination after Yemen’s Houthi militia warned ships to avoid sailing to Saudi Arabian ports, ship tracking data showed.
The vessels all changed their direction, with the other two signaling their destination as open waters in the Red Sea, according to LSEG and MarineTraffic ship tracking data and analysis from British maritime risk management group Vanguard.
A fifth ship — a vehicle carrier — appeared to have turned away in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday after signaling the Saudi port of Jeddah as its next destination, according to shipping data.
Three oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea’s mouth following the warning from the Iran-aligned Houthis.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Joe Bavier)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Essential maritime and offshore news, insights, and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox
A new burst of attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is hitting just as Saudi Arabia is being forced to send more oil back through the waterway...
China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
Container carriers are accelerating their return to the Suez Canal, with COSCO’s OOCL Portugal making a milestone transit even as Houthi advances around Bab el-Mandeb raise fresh security concerns.
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
