Two tankers with Saudi oil exit Red Sea over weekend, data shows

Two Saudi oil tankers navigated the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the weekend, while traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed due to reported vessel attacks and maritime tensions.

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 typically receives crude. Dynacom, the manager for the Lesvos, and the Shipping Corp of India did not respond to requests seeking comments.

Separately, a Panama-flagged ⁠tanker carrying Russian naphtha has changed course to sail around Africa instead of going through the Red Sea. STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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. Greek shipping firm Gaslog reported an incident on its LNG tanker Gaslog Shanghai on July 31. 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 from the United Arab Emirates aboard. ADNOC Logistics & Services, the owner of Rotterdam Energy, declined to comment.

Apex Shipping, manager of the Kiku, did not respond ‌to a request for comment.