India Bound Saudi Crude Tankers Cross Red Sea Amid Tension

06 Aug 2026 CW Team

Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait over the weekend despite heightened security risks, according to Kpler shipping data. Kpler showed only 18 commodity vessels passed through the strait on Sunday, down from 27 on Saturday and 28 on Friday, indicating growing caution among shipping operators. The Suezmax Lesvos and the Very Large Crude Carrier Desh Vaibhav transited the Red Sea with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off, making movements harder to track.

Lesvos, which sails under the Malta flag, was carrying around one million (mn) barrels of Saudi crude, while Desh Vaibhav was loaded with two mn barrels bound for Reliance Industries refinery at Sikka in Gujarat, India. Neither Dynacom, manager of Lesvos, nor the Shipping Corporation of India, which operates Desh Vaibhav, responded to requests for comment.

Shipping activity also weakened in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy corridor through which nearly one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies typically pass. Kpler data showed only one tanker carrying Iranian liquefied petroleum gas crossed the strait on Sunday, although some vessels may have disabled their AIS transponders, making traffic difficult to fully assess. UK Maritime Trade Operations reported three additional attacks on tankers since Saturday, and Kpler recorded commodity vessel traffic through Hormuz dropping to 10 ships on Saturday from 19 on Friday.

Among vessels in the strait were VLCC Kiku, carrying about one point four mn barrels of Qatari crude, and Rotterdam Energy, transporting two mn barrels of Das crude from the UAE. The movements follow the July 20 maritime embargo announced by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which extended attacks to major shipping routes. US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran will begin after he chose diplomacy over military strikes, and oil prices fell nearly five per cent.

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