With a carrying capacity of nearly 1.9 million tons but no-load detour, why did 6 Saudi VLCCs collec

Recently, monitoring by the maritime risk intelligence agency Windward found that six very large crude carriers (VLCCs) belonging to the Saudi national shipping company Bahri have adjusted their routes to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea waters, and instead bypass the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.The total deadweight tonnage of these six VLCCs is close to 1.9 million tons, and they are all in an unloaded (ballasted) state.The industry believes that this means that shipowners are no longer concerned only with the safety of the cargo, but also with the ship’s flag, shipowner’s background and risks associated with Saudi Arabia.PART.01 Saudi Arabia-affiliated ships have become a key risk target. The background of this large-scale deviation is that the Houthi armed forces in Yemen announced a "maritime blockade" against Saudi Arabia on July 20.The Houthis stated that they would ban Saudi-related ships from passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key waterway in the Red Sea, saying that this measure was in response to Saudi-related actions.In response, the Saudi-led Yemeni coalition issued a statement on July 20 that it would take measures to protect commercial ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and accused Houthi-related threats of violating international law and maritime navigation rules.The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) also issued a statement on July 21, expressing concern about the threat of a maritime blockade proposed by Houthis, believing that relevant actions may further affect the safety of navigation in the Red Sea.Unlike the previous Red Sea crisis, which mainly targeted ships associated with Europe and the United States, this round of risk clearly shows the characteristics of "targeting fleets associated with specific countries."PART.026 Bahri VLCC Detours According to Windward track monitoring data, the six VLCCs adjusted this time are: HAZM, DILAM, GHINAH, LAYNAH, SALAM, and BURQAN. The above-mentioned ships all belong to Bahri's VLCC fleet.Among them, ships such as HAZM and DILAM plan to load crude oil along the U.S. Gulf Coast, including areas such as Corpus Christi.Compared with the traditional route: Saudi Arabia/Indian Ocean → Bab el-Mandeb Strait → Red Sea → Suez Canal → Mediterranean Sea Detour Plan requires: Indian Ocean → African Cape of Good Hope → Atlantic Ocean → European direction → Suez Canal. Windward data shows that some voyages are expected to increase their voyage by about 6 to 7 days.Among them, the impact of the deviation of the VLCC "LAYNAH" ship is more obvious because its destination is Yanbu, the Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia.The ship could have originally crossed the Indian Ocean directly into the Red Sea, but after adjustments it will need to go around the Cape of Good Hope and then return to Yanbu via the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Suez Canal. The voyage is expected to increase by about 30 days.The most noteworthy aspect of this incident is that all six VLCCs were under ballast.Normally, ships laden with crude oil are diverted mainly to protect cargo worth tens of millions of dollars or more.However, this time the six empty oil tankers still took the initiative to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, indicating that the risk assessment has shifted from "protecting the cargo" to "protecting the ship itself."
PART.03 Industry Observation The collective detour of six Bahri VLCCs is not an adjustment by a single company, but a typical reaction of the shipping market in the face of regional risk escalation.At present, the biggest change in the Red Sea is not that "all ships cannot move", but that different ships face different risk levels.For Chinese shipping, foreign trade and logistics companies, they need to continue to pay attention to whether shipping companies have readjusted Red Sea route arrangements, as well as cost changes such as war risks and deviation surcharges. At the same time, they must also pay attention to the impact of changes in the Middle East energy transportation chain on the tanker and container transportation markets.As geopolitical risks persist, route safety is becoming an important factor influencing international logistics decisions, following freight rates and port efficiency.