COSCO VLCC Reroutes via Africa to Load Saudi Crude at Egyptian Terminal

A Chinese very large crude carrier (VLCC) has resumed loading Saudi crude after a one-week pause, but now avoids the Red Sea by sailing around Africa. On 4 August, the 330,000-tonne VLCC Yuanxihu, operated by China COSCO Shipping Group, arrived off the Egyptian Mediterranean port of Sidki Kerir and joined a queue to load crude. The vessel entered the Red Sea on 11 July and remained anchored off the Saudi port of Yanbu after Yemen's Houthi group announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia. On 1 August, the Yuanxihu transited the Suez Canal northbound in ballast, bound for Sidki Kerir. To bypass the Houthi blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the southern Red Sea, Saudi Arabia has used shuttle tankers to carry crude from Yanbu to the Egyptian port of Sokhna on the Red Sea side, then pump it through a pipeline to Sidki Kerir on the Mediterranean coast. Customers' VLCCs now load at the Egyptian terminal.