Houthi Threats Prompt Multiple Vessels to Reroute in Red Sea

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – Four tankers changed their navigational course in the Red Sea on Wednesday with two signaling the Suez Canal as their new destination after Yemen's Houthi militia warned ships to avoid sailing to Saudi Arabian ports, ship tracking data showed.

The vessels all changed their direction, with the other two signaling their destination as open waters in the Red Sea, according to LSEG and MarineTraffic ship tracking data and analysis from British maritime risk management group Vanguard.

A fifth ship — a vehicle carrier — appeared to have turned away in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday after signaling the Saudi port of Jeddah as its next destination, according to shipping data.

Three oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea's mouth following the warning from the Iran-aligned Houthis.