{"id":4453,"date":"2026-07-24T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikhailinvest.com\/saudi-crude-tanker-goes-dark-to-slip-through-bab-el-mandeb\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:30:00","slug":"saudi-crude-tanker-goes-dark-to-slip-through-bab-el-mandeb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikhailinvest.com\/ru\/saudi-crude-tanker-goes-dark-to-slip-through-bab-el-mandeb\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Crude Tanker Goes Dark to Slip Through Bab el-Mandeb"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least one oil tanker carrying Saudi crude oil has transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait with its transponder switched off as risks to vessels in the Red Sea spiked this week after the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipments and targeted vessels offshore Yemen.<\/p>\n

The Merbabu tanker, owned by a Greek company and laden with Saudi crude oil, transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the so-called dark mode, which many shippers and tanker operators used for months to move undetected to hostile targeting in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The Merbabu emerged in the Arabian Sea late on Thursday, with its AIS positioning signal on. The previous broadcast from the vessel was from the Red Sea, per tanker-tracking data monitored by \u0411\u043b\u0443\u043c\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0433<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the previous broadcast from the Red Sea three days ago, the Merbabu openly broadcast that it has \u201cNO LINK ISRAEL UK US\u201d, according to \u0434\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435<\/a> on MarineTraffic.<\/p>\n

\u0414\u043e\u0431\u0430\u0432\u044c\u0442\u0435 OilPrice.com \u0432 \u0441\u043f\u0438\u0441\u043e\u043a \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u043f\u043e\u0447\u0442\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432 \u0432 Google. .<\/p>\n

Traffic at Bab al-Mandeb has not collapsed, unlike at the Strait of Hormuz, and vessels \u2013 especially those not carrying Saudi oil \u2013 were moving out and into the Red Sea on Friday.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Iran-aligned Houthis \u043e\u0431\u044a\u044f\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043e<\/a> they had expanded their campaign against maritime traffic by targeting Saudi oil shipments through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the key chokepoint on the Red Sea, through which Saudi Arabia has re-directed most of its crude oil shipments to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

China-bound tankers appear to move through Bab el-Mandeb, but some others, including Denmark-flagged products tanker Torm Innovation, have made U-turns in the Red Sea and are now heading north toward<\/a> the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n

Despite the Houthi blockade, \u201ctwo China-crewed, China-bound tankers loaded at Yanbu and cleared Bab al-Mandeb apparently untouched,\u201d maritime intelligence firm Windward \u0441\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u043b<\/a> \u0432 \u0447\u0435\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0433.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnforcement is calibrated to crew and ownership, not cargo. Saudi crude keeps moving as long as the vessel carrying it sits outside the target set.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u0426\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0430 \u041f\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0434\u043b\u044f Oilprice.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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