Seeking to avoid curbs on movement in Red Sea, two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Indian refiners sailed out by temporarily going “dark”. The tankers sailed out of the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This follows the announcement by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that they would impose a blockade on Saudi oil shipments.The Suezmax tanker Amazon, chartered by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), loaded 1 million barrels of crude at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port, while the Aframax tanker Rodos took on 700,000 barrels for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) around July 20, according to a Reuters report. Both vessels initially headed north towards the Suez CanalAround July 22, however, the two tankers switched off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, making their movements unavailable to public tracking systems, sources told Reuters. They subsequently changed course, sailed south and exited the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.Also Read | Another oil shock loading for India? How Red Sea route disruptions may hit not only Saudi, but also Russian crude supply
Saudi crude tankers for India go “dark”
The two tankers are the first known vessels carrying Saudi crude to India to switch off their Automatic Identification System transponders since the blockade began, providing the first indication of such “dark” sailing. The sources said disabling transponders is a standard safety measure for ships operating in conflict zones. “The owner had shut the transponders on the vessels for safety purposes, and the vessels are now heading to India,” one of the sources told Reuters.According to the sources, the Rodos is due to reach Mangalore port on August 1, while the Amazon is expected to arrive in Chennai in early August.Both ships are managed by Greece-based Dynacom Tankers.The two vessels turned off their transponders after two other Dynacom-operated ships—the Malta-flagged Panamax tanker Kavomaleas and the Liberian-flagged VLCC Acheloos—were struck by projectiles.Following the Houthi attacks on several Saudi tankers, Indian refiners have increasingly opted to purchase Middle Eastern crude on a delivered basis. In its latest tender, MRPL specified that it would procure only cargoes transported on routes that avoid both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
