Two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the weekend, while traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed following reports of vessel attacks, shipping data showed on Monday.
The number of commodity vessels that passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait fell to 18 on Sunday, from 27 on Saturday and 28 on Friday, the Kpler data showed.
The Iran-aligned Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on July 20, opening a new front against the US and its allies in the Iran war and expanding attacks on tankers carrying global energy and other supplies to waters beyond the Persian Gulf.
Suezmax tanker Lesvos and very large crude carrier Desh Vaibhav exited the Red Sea with their AIS transponders switched off, the data showed.
The Malta-flagged Lesvos was carrying about one million barrels of Saudi crude and it was not immediately clear where it was headed to.
The Desh Vaibhav, carrying two million barrels, is heading to India's Sikka port where Reliance Industries typically receives crude.
Dynacom, the manager for the Lesvos, and the Shipping Corp of India did not respond to requests seeking comments.
Separately, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying Russian naphtha has changed course to sail around Africa instead of going through the Red Sea.
At the Strait of Hormuz, a route for a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the hostilities, one tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas loaded in Iran made the crossing on Sunday, Kpler data showed.
Some vessels may have switched off their AIS and cannot immediately be accounted for.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency has reported three more tanker attacks since Saturday. Greek shipping firm Gaslog reported an incident on its LNG tanker Gaslog Shanghai on July 31.
The number of commodity vessels passing through Hormuz fell to 10 on Saturday after Friday's tally of 19, the highest since mid-July, the data showed.
In addition to the VLCCs Spain B and Noble, two more VLCCs exited the Hormuz strait while one entered on Friday.
These include the VLCC Kiku, carrying about 1.4 million barrels of Qatari crude, and the VLCC Rotterdam Energy with two million barrels of Das crude from the United Arab Emirates aboard. ADNOC Logistics and Services, the owner of Rotterdam Energy, declined to comment.
Apex Shipping, manager of the Kiku, did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; additional reporting by Emily Chow and Mohi Narayan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sonali Paul)
