Tankers Turning Back in the Red Sea... Concerns Grow Over Crude Transport

[Anchor]

Following the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen declaring a blockade of the Red Sea, a growing number of oil tankers are finding themselves unable to leave the region. With detouring via the Suez Canal also proving difficult, crude oil transportation faces a major emergency.

Reported by Kim Minpyo.

[Reporter]

An oil tanker loaded with crude at Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Port changes direction and heads toward the Suez Canal while sailing south in the Red Sea.

Bound for India, the vessel has chosen an extreme detour route around the entire African continent.

Foreign media outlets reported that six ships turned their bows around on the 21st local time alone.

This comes after Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels issued specific warnings to shipping companies prohibiting the use of all Saudi ports and stating that violators could become targets.

Analyses have emerged that if oil export routes connected to the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Arabian Sea are blocked in this manner, about 25 percent of the global crude oil supply will be affected.

More than half of the crude shipped from Yanbu Port is destined for Asia, and taking a detour route via the Suez Canal extends transport times by up to a month.

Distance is not the only issue.

When very large crude carriers are fully loaded with oil, it is difficult for them to pass through the shallow Suez Canal.

Part of the crude must be unloaded on the Red Sea side, sent through a pipeline in Egypt to the Mediterranean side, and reloaded onto the tanker after it passes through the canal.

South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank is also reviewing plans to import crude through this method.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: Up to this point, there has been no Red Sea blockade. There could potentially be a blockade, but we are handling the situation well. If such a thing happens, we will handle it all.]

U.S. President Trump stepped in to manage the situation while hinting at a military response, but with the Red Sea joining Hormuz as a danger zone, international oil prices rose by more than 2 percent.

(Video by Kim Jin-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.