The empty very large crude carrier New Champion reversed course in the Gulf of Aden on Friday after idling on its way to the Red Sea, according to ship tracking data. The vessel had been chartered by a Chinese buyer to load a cargo of crude at Yanbu and is now heading east at close to top speed, around 16 knots.
It is not clear what triggered the reversal. Some shipping insurers have in recent days refused to write coverage for any vessel calling at Saudi ports because of attack risk, according to ship and insurance brokers.
The turnaround exposes the widening economic fallout of the Houthi naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and points to fresh hurdles for Chinese buyers seeking Saudi crude. Western vessels have stayed away from the Red Sea for months, but China bound ships had continued to lift roughly 520,000 barrels a day from Yanbu this year, Kpler data show. Those flows surged during the Iran war as Saudi Arabia rerouted Persian Gulf exports to Yanbu to bypass Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
New Champion appears to be the first Chinese tanker to change course in or near the Red Sea, possibly in response to heightened risk. Earlier in the week, two Chinese owned supertankers exited Bab el-Mandeb with transponders on, becoming the first tankers with Saudi crude to leave the Red Sea unimpeded since the Houthis announced the blockade. Two more ships, New Explorer and New Pearl, are still in the Red Sea carrying Saudi cargoes.
Western linked owners are increasingly opting for the longer route around Africa via the Suez Canal rather than risk the southern exit. The Japan bound supertanker Gas King left the Red Sea via Suez on Friday, pushing its expected arrival in Japan from early August to late September. New Champion, New Explorer, and New Pearl are managed by Associated Maritime Co (H.K.) Ltd, according to Equasis.