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In late July 2026, the Sea Icon - a Panamanian-flagged Suezmax oil tanker - aborted its passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to divert its route around the African continent.
The vessel is transporting at least 100,000 tons of Russian naphtha loaded on July 1 in Ust-Luga, bound for Asia, according to industry sources and LSEG records.
The cargo belonged to the Russian energy company Novatek, a key alternative supplier of naphtha to Asian markets amid the ongoing war in the Gulf, according to a trader.
The oil tanker, 277 meters long and 48 meters wide, is controlled by the Kuwait-based Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport Company.
Cargoes have started to go around Africa due to the war in the Middle East, according to a Russia-based trader.
At 0400 GMT on Monday, July 3, the vessel indicated Cape Town, South Africa, as its destination, LSEG ship tracking data showed.
Traffic through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait has decreased after the Iran-aligned Houthis declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20.
