The global oil market is experiencing turmoil again amid prolonged attacks by the Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea. Against this background, the world has faced a shortage of oil tankers and increased delivery time. The situation needs an urgent settlement.
Specialists emphasized a general decrease in the efficiency of the global fleet because of conflicts. The strengthening and expansion of the shadow fleet play an important role in the oil delivery process.
According to analysts, only two supertankers will join the fleet this year, and in 2025, their number will increase to five. However, this is very little for normal functioning. Notably, in 2022, the world fleet added 42 ships. This is the smallest number of vessels delivered on a yearly basis in the last 40 years.
“The situation in the Red Sea is changing the fundamentals in the market, and it’s acting in favor of the ship operators,” Fotios Katsoulas, lead analyst for tanker shipping at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said. According to Fotios Katsoulas, “vessel employment rates have risen by as much as 5% since ships began avoiding the waterway.”
Notably, since November 2023, the Ansar Allah (the Houthi militant group) has seized several ships in the Red Sea that are related to Israel. According to a representative of the Houthi group, the attacks will continue until Israel stops its aggression against the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians. After the Houthi attacks, some shipping companies suspended shipments through the Suez Canal connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas. As a result, at the end of December last year, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin announced the launch of the international Prosperity Guardian Operation, which aims to protect the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.
