Oil Tanker Hauling US Crude U-Turns in Red Sea to Dodge Houthis

An oil tanker hired by Norway’s Equinor ASA that came to a halt in the Red Sea six days ago — when Houthi militants stepped up attacks on merchant shipping — has performed a u-turn and is now sailing back toward the Suez Canal.

The Sonangol Cabinda is sailing north toward the Egyptian waterway at a speed of 13 knots, according to tanker tracking compiled by Bloomberg. Its dimensions, depth in the water, and prior movements indicate the tanker is holding about a million barrels of US crude.

Hundreds of merchant ships have veered away from the Bab-el-Mandab shipping strait, an unavoidable seaway when using the Suez Canal to cut between Asia and Europe, after the Houthis stepped up attacks late last week. While the militants have vowed to target any vessel with a connection to Israel, the vessels attacked have had increasingly tenuous links to the country, prompting alarm across the shipping industry, and driving up insurance costs.

Before it came to a stop, the Sonangol Cabinda was heading to Mumbai. If it still ends up going there, it will result in a thousands-of-miles long detour burning hundreds of tons more fuel and adding to the cargo’s freight costs.

Oil and gas giants BP Plc and Equinor both said at the start of this week that they would avoid shipping through the southern Red Sea. Some owners are also insisting on charter options allowing them to avoid the area at their discretion.

Shipping data show the vessel was hired by Equinor.

“Sonangol Cabinda carries crude oil, but we do not have the possibility comment in detail on routes or volumes of specific ships, some of this is also commercial information,” an Equinor spokeswoman said. She confirmed the firm was continuing to avoid transit through the area.