Russian ships avoid the Suez Canal for fear of shelling

Gas tankers from Russia began to avoid entering the Suez Canal due to the risk of shelling by the Yemeni Houthis.

Two gas carriers, tankers, one of which belongs to Russia, “changed their minds” to enter the Suez Canal in the evening of January 15. Prior to this, the ship had been parked near the shipping lane for some time. The tankers were likely carrying LNG destined for Asian countries, Bloomberg  reports.

In addition, 3 tankers with Qatari LNG stopped off the coast of Oman after US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The ships are now heading towards the Cape of Good Hope.

It is worth noting that until now, Qatar and Russia were the last major suppliers of LNG that continued to use the Suez Canal.

It will be recalled that last week the Houthis mistakenly attacked a tanker with Russian oil. The vessel was chosen as a target because of outdated information from a public database about its connection to Great Britain.

Before that, the Russians avoided shelling from the Yemeni Houthis, in a way “communicating” with the militants using AIS.

In general, the number of gas carriers passing through the waterway fell by 96% compared to the previous month. Also recently, USM wrote that due to hostilities in the Red Sea, the income of the Suez Canal has fallen by more than 40%.