By Julian Lee (Bloomberg) —
A backlog of Saudi-owned supertankers that has built up off Egypt’s Red Sea coast is beginning to clear.
The number of the nation’s own tankers tankers anchored near Ain Sukhna, a port at the southern end of a pipeline linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean has dropped to five, down from a peak of eight in mid-June, according to vessel tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.
They, along with two Chinese-owned vessels also carrying Saudi crude, have been waiting a mixture of days, weeks and months.
Tankers anchored there previously are discharging their cargoes, generally at a rate of one every two days and after a wait of between three and four weeks.
During the course of June the rate of new vessels arriving off the port slowed from one every other day early in the month to about one every four days toward the end.
No Saudi VLCCs have arrived off Ain Sukhna so far in July, but the Harad is due there on July 7 and the Khurais was last seen on July 2 taking on a cargo of Saudi crude at the Yanbu South terminal. Both vessels have previously shuttled cargoes between Yanbu and Ain Sukhna.
For more details on the vessels:
| IMO | Name | Class | Arrived | Days anchored | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9358292 | Newton | VLCC | May 11 | 55 | |
| 9358280 | Noble | VLCC | May 15 | 51 | U-turn in Indian Ocean after heading toward Japan |
| 9484716 | Niban | VLCC | May 28 | 22 | Discharged on June 19 |
| 9858450 | Samha | VLCC | May 31 | 21 | Discharged on June 21 |
| 9332535 | Wafrah | VLCC | June 01 | 22 | Discharged on June 23 |
| 9220952 | Harad | VLCC | June 03 | 24 | Discharged on June 27 |
| 9783679 | Khurais | VLCC | June 04 | 25 | Discharged on June 29 |
| 9237797 | Lulu | VLCC | June 06 | 27 | Discharged on July 3 |
| 9384198 | Manifa | VLCC | June 07 | 24 | Discharged on July 1 |
| 9421415 | Arsan | VLCC | June 11 | 24 | Discharging |
| 9336098 | Layla | VLCC | June 17 | 18 | |
| 9223887 | Safwa | VLCC | June 21 | 14 | |
| 9384239 | Karan | VLCC | June 24 | 11 | |
| 9484730 | Nisalah | VLCC | June 28 | 7 | |
| 9484716 | Niban | VLCC | June 30 | 5 |
© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.
This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.
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
More ships are openly signaling their intention to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, pointing to growing confidence among shipowners and traders about sending vessels through the chokepoint as tensions ease.
Three Saudi-flagged supertankers with six million barrels of crude onboard sailed through the Strait of Hormuz hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran over an end to their war, ship tracking data showed on Thursday.
The European Union has sanctioned the shipping subsidiaries of Russian energy giants Gazprom and Lukoil, broadening its crackdown on Moscow’s oil transportation network and increasingly targeting companies linked to the country’s so-called shadow fleet.
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
