Nearly 30 supertankers are heading for Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu to provide oil supplies bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, The Financial Times (FT) reported.
Each such ship can carry more than 2 million barrels of oil. Saudi Arabia is seeking new routes for exporting oil that are impossible through the Strait of Hormuz. To this end, the kingdom is using a pipeline connecting oil fields in the east to the port of Yanbu in the west.
Passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait carries the threat of attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The strait is also within range of Iranian missiles. Experts note that the Houthis stopped attacking ships last year. In theory, tankers could pass through the Suez Canal, but that would increase the cost and take longer to transit.
On March 11, Bloomberg reported a group of 25 tankers heading for the port of Yanbu.
Earlier, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite arm of Iran’s armed forces), said that any ship wishing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz must obtain permission from Iranian authorities.