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Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi rebels, delivers a televised statement in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 20 (local time). The Houthi rebels declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia on that day / Photo by EPA, Yonhap News Agency

As Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, Asian refiners have moved to secure alternative transport routes via the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope, Reuters reported on July 21 (local time).

Amid ongoing exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran, growing risks along major sea lanes have prompted refiners to secure alternative supplies and alter shipping routes.

According to financial data firm LSEG and shipping data provider Kpler, the Liberian-flagged tanker Rodoros, which loaded crude oil at Saudi Arabia's port of Yanbu and was heading to the west coast of India, was confirmed to have turned west toward the Suez Canal.

HD Hyundai Oilbank is also searching for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) to load at Yanbu and is considering an option to transport crude oil to South Korea by linking the Suez Canal with Egypt's SUMED pipeline, Reuters reported.

Fully loaded VLCCs cannot directly navigate the Suez Canal due to draft restrictions—the depth of the hull submerged in water. Shipping companies utilize a method where a portion of the crude oil is offloaded into the SUMED pipeline before entering the Red Sea to lighten the vessel, allowing it to pass through the canal and reload the cargo once it reaches the Mediterranean.

A shipping industry official explained that charterers can flexibly utilize the SUMED pipeline and the Suez Canal depending on the situation, adding that this bypass route would become a primary option if the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea is fully blockaded.

Market analysts projected that replacing the traditional route—heading east from Yanbu in western Saudi Arabia into the Arabian Sea—with a detour that travels north through the Suez Canal and around Africa's Cape of Good Hope would extend transit times by up to four weeks, inevitably driving up freight rates and fuel costs.

With the Strait of Hormuz blocked and Red Sea routes now disrupted, global crude oil shipping has been plunged into a state of emergency.

According to Bloomberg, six vessels turned back over a 24-hour period as of that day due to the blockade on Saudi Arabia. The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that ships altered their courses after heeding the warnings.

Global oil prices have surged by approximately 25 percent this month following the resumption of clashes between the United States and Iran.

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned that global supplies of crude oil and petroleum products are coming under increasing pressure due to the war, adding that conditions could deteriorate further. He noted that threats to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which served as a bypass for Hormuz, heighten energy supply security concerns and market uncertainty, emphasizing that "there is no room for complacency when it comes to oil security."

                                                                                                          Lee Jeong-eun