Six empty Saudi tankers reroute around Africa; Yemen says it forced eight toward the Cape of Good Hope

Six empty Saudi-linked oil tankers turned away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Arabian Sea on Friday, 31 July 2026, and headed south around Africa, a highly unusual move for tankers that load West Asian crude. According to vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg and reported by OilPrice, the ships are indicating destinations of Gibraltar or the South African ports of Durban and Algoa Bay, all three major refuelling hubs. The route around Africa adds at least two weeks to a supertanker's voyage.

After Yemeni forces declared a naval blockade of Saudi ports and attacked tankers, Riyadh has again reshaped its export routing: more crude is being shuttled from the port of Yanbu to Egypt's Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea and then carried by the onshore SUMED pipeline to the port of Sidi Kerir. According to the same data, at least eight empty very large crude carriers are signalling Sidi Kerir as their destination and are expected to arrive over the next two to three weeks.

Early on Saturday, 1 August 2026, Yahya Saree, spokesman for Yemen's armed forces, said his forces had compelled eight Saudi oil tankers to change course toward the Cape of Good Hope. Lengthening the export route of the world's largest oil exporter raises freight and insurance costs and adds to the risk premium in global crude prices.