Tanker traffic in the Suez Canal has dropped to levels not seen since the Covid pandemic, as Houthi attacks disrupt oil and petrol deliveries.
The canal saw a decrease to an average of 14 tankers per day in the week leading up to January 15, a 34% reduction since mid-December. This decline is attributed to shipping reroutes caused by the Red Sea conflict.
According to Kpler analysts, this is the lowest traffic rate since May 2022, a period when the Ukraine conflict caused a spike in Suez traffic due to increased European imports of Middle Eastern energy and Russia’s redirection of oil to India and China.
Major energy firms like Shell, QatarEnergy, and BP have halted Red Sea transits indefinitely after Iran-supported rebels attacked vessels near Yemen.
The trade of petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and jet fuel, has been significantly affected. The number of tankers transporting these products through the Red Sea has nearly halved this year.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence analysis shows that only 37 large tankers were operating daily in the Red Sea in the week up to January 14, a 49% decrease from the last week of 2023 and a 57% drop since the intensification of Houthi attacks in mid-December.
Crude oil tanker traffic has also fallen by 33% since mid-December.
Kpler freight analyst Matthew Wright highlighted the heightened risk of oil spills in the region, exacerbated by vessels disabling their AIS signalling systems for stealth, which is particularly dangerous in the congested and narrow Bab El-Mandab strait.
