Chinese tanker passes through Bab el-Mandeb despite Houthi threats

A Chinese-owned oil tanker carrying Saudi crude transited the Bab al-Mandab strait, while another tanker was en route to do the same, despite Houthi attacks overnight on ships in the region. Ship-tracking data showed that the “Shen Long Yang” was located south of Yemen’s Ras Menheli, at the strait’s narrowest point, with signals indicating that its crew and ownership were Chinese. The “Cosni Lake” was sailing behind it on the same route. Meanwhile, at least two Asian crude oil buyers are in talks with Saudi Aramco to reroute crude shipments around the Cape of Good Hope, following Houthi attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea, according to informed traders. The traders said refineries are considering alternatives to avoid transiting the Bab al-Mandab strait, including taking delivery of crude from Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port on the Mediterranean Sea instead of Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea. They added that one proposed option involves Aramco moving crude from Yanbu to Egypt’s Port of Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea, before pumping it northward through pipelines to the Mediterranean, with buyers potentially handling logistics within Egypt after receiving the shipments from Yanbu.