Saudi Oil Tankers Exit Red Sea as Hormuz Traffic Slows

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the weekend, while traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed following reports of vessel attacks, shipping data showed on Monday.

The number of commodity vessels that passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait fell to 18 on Sunday, from 27 on Saturday and 28 on Friday, the Kpler data showed.

The Iran-aligned Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on July 20, opening a new front against the U.S. and its allies in the Iran war and expanding attacks on tankers carrying global energy and other supplies to waters beyond the Gulf.

Suezmax tanker Lesvos and Very Large Crude Carrier Desh Vaibhav exited the Red Sea with their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders switched off, the data showed.

The Malta-flagged Lesvos was carrying about 1 million barrels of Saudi crude and it was not immediately clear where it was headed to.

The Desh Vaibhav, carrying 2 million barrels, is heading to India's Sikka port where Reliance Industries RELI.NS typically receives crude.

Dynacom, the manager for the Lesvos, did not respond to requests for comments outside of office hours while the Shipping Corp of India, which operates the Desh Vaibhav, could not be immediately reached for comment.

At the Strait of Hormuz, a route for a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the hostilities, one tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas loaded in Iran made the crossing on Sunday, Kpler data showed.

Some vessels may have switched off their AIS and cannot immediately be accounted for.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency has reported three more tanker attacks since Saturday.

The number of commodity vessels passing through Hormuz fell to 10 on Saturday after Friday's tally of 19, the highest since mid-July, the data showed.

In addition to the VLCCs Spain B and Noble, two more VLCCs exited the Hormuz strait while one entered on Friday.

These include the VLCC Kiku, carrying about 1.4 million barrels of Qatari crude, and the VLCC Rotterdam Energy with 2 million barrels of Das crude aboard.

Apex Shipping, manager of the Kiku, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, owner of Rotterdam Energy, did not respond to requests for comments outside of office hours.