Two tankers carrying Saudi oil for India exit Red Sea by going 'dark'

NEW DELHI: Two tankers carrying Saudi crude for Indian refiners have exited the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by sailing “dark” after Yemen’s Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipments, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The Suezmax tanker Amazon, chartered by Indian Oil Corp, loaded 1 million barrels of oil and Aframax Rodos lifted 700,000 barrels of crude for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port around July 20 and briefly turned north towards the Suez Canal.

However, the Amazon and Rodos then switched off their Automatic Identification System transponders around July 22, preventing public tracking of their moves, and headed south to exit the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the sources said.

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The tankers are the first evidence of vessels carrying Saudi crude for India going dark by turning off their transponders, which the sources said is normal practice in war zone areas, since the blockade began.

“The owner had shut the transponders on the vessels for safety purposes, and the vessels are now heading to India,” one of the sources told Reuters.

The Rodos is expected to arrive at India’s Mangalore port on August 1, while the Amazon is scheduled to reach Chennai in early August, both sources said.

Both vessels are managed by Greece-based Dynacom Tankers. Dynacom had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

India’s foreign ministry, Indian Oil and MRPL did not respond to emails seeking comment.

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The vessels switched off their transponders after two other Dynacom ships, Malta-flagged Panamax-sized tanker Kavomaleas and Liberian-flagged VLCC Acheloos, were hit by projectiles.

Indian refiners have switched to cargoes from the Middle East on a delivered basis since the Houthi attacks on several Saudi tankers. MRPL said in its latest tender it will only buy oil shipped on routes avoiding the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.

It was not immediately clear if the Indian government talked to the Houthis or Iranian authorities to gain safe passage for the vessels after refiners in India approached it for help.