Russian oil supplies through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Asia continue unabated. Most of the tankers belong to little-known shipowners who are not afraid to sail through the explosive region.
On January 16 at 19.00, five of the six tankers that passed through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea were carrying Russian oil. Another 12 of the 21 tankers that had transponders on and were heading through the Red Sea to the Bab el-Mandeb Canal were also loaded with raw materials from Russia. 15 tankers transport oil, and two more carry petroleum products. This is evidenced by the AIS data of ships.
All 17 tankers carry up to 14 million barrels. Their market price could be more than $850 million.
Despite increased tensions in the Middle East, Russian oil supplies through the Red Sea, which is the shortest route from Europe to Asia, have not weakened. Tankers come from Murmansk, Primorsk, Ust-Luga, Taman and Novorossiysk. Some received their cargo at sea from other ships. Seven vessels indicate on AIS that they are heading to Indian ports, three to Chinese ports, two to the UAE and one more to Malaysia. The remaining tankers do not show their final destination.
Russian oil is not the only commodity that continues to flow through the Red Sea. But its deliveries are carried out as before. Saudi, Algerian, Azerbaijani and Egyptian oil also flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
As reported EADaily , the situation in the Red Sea rapidly escalated even more after the US and UK struck Houthi targets in Yemen on January 12. In response, they continued to attack ships in the strait. And Iran seized a tanker from which the United States confiscated Iranian oil last year and attacked Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Tehran said they hit American and Israeli targets.
Previously, only Western tanker companies, for the most part, changed routes and sent ships around Africa. However, the rapid development of events of the last week led to the fact that tankers with Qatari LNG and even Yamal LNG were bypassed. The vessels transporting the latter belong to the Japanese MOL and the Greek Dynagas.
Some Greek shipowners continue to transport Russian oil, but most of the ships currently sailing through the Red Sea still belong to the gray fleet. This is the name given to tankers that are older than 15 years and belong to little-known shipowners.
Most of them have appeared in the last few years and are registered mainly in India, the UAE, Hong Kong and China. For example, Wanta Shipping, whose office is located in Dubai. According to the International Maritime Risk Rating Agency, the company owns three tankers Oneiroi, Lhotse and Guanyin, which are passing through the Red Sea this evening with Russian oil on board.
The Houthi Ansar Allah stated that it would only attack ships associated with Israel. However, two tankers carrying Russian oil could have been accidentally damaged. In the beginning – Sai Baba. Then, on December 23, the US Central Command announced that a Houthi drone had fallen on board the ship, and Ansar Allah reported that an American missile exploded near the tanker, with which they wanted to shoot down a Houthi reconnaissance drone from the frigate. Next, Tankertrackers reported that on January 12, the Houthis mistakenly allegedly hit the Khalissa tanker in the Gulf of Aden with a missile. However, according to AIS data, the tanker with a cargo of 108 thousand tons of Russian oil continues its journey to India already in the Indian Ocean.
Experts noted that little-known shipowners may be associated with Russian companies that were preparing to redirect oil supplies from Europe to new markets. It is quite possible that Russian manufacturers have some kind of safety guarantees for the passage of tankers through the Red Sea. However, risks remain in any case. For example, the tanker Innova of the Vietnamese Sao Viet Petrol Transportation comes from Ust-Luga and warns that it has no contacts with Israel, indicating this instead of the destination on the AIS: “No contact Israel.” This is not the first time that ships carrying Russian raw materials have used this practice. At the end of December, the oil product tanker Kriti State of the Greek Avin International was en route from Novorossiysk with the same message.
2024-01-16 17:40:00
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