Rerouting Around Africa Adds One Month to Voyage, Costing Saudi Tankers an Extra $2.5 Million
N.R. Finch
With the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea blocked simultaneously, Saudi tankers are rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope — adding roughly $2.5 million per voyage and stretching transit from 19 days to 48, nearly doubling the delivery window for Asian buyers.
Two chokepoints blocked at once — what route is left?
The U.S.–Iran conflict shut the Strait of Hormuz; Saudi Arabia had already shifted most Gulf exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Houthi forces struck Red Sea shipping again this week, making that corridor unsafe as well.
This means → the Suez Canal is now the only major export option left, and Saudi routing flexibility has been squeezed to its limit.
How much more does each voyage cost — and how much longer does it take?
Reuters, citing Kpler and LSEG shipping data: Yanbu to Taiwan via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait takes 19 days; rerouting through Suez → the Mediterranean → Gibraltar → the Cape of Good Hope stretches that to 48 days.
Fuel costs jump from $1.26 million to $2.87 million — up roughly $1.61 million; Suez Canal transit fees add another $1 million.
In plain terms = one voyage burns double the fuel and pays a toll on top — about $2.5 million in extra cost per trip.
Can the Sumed pipeline pick up the slack?
The Sumed pipeline — a 320-kilometre overland oil line linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean — can handle up to 2.5 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia currently exports roughly 7 million barrels per day; the pipeline covers only about one-third of that volume.
This means → the pipeline relieves some pressure, but the bulk still has to go by sea around Africa. The bottleneck remains.
Why do large tankers have to cross Suez only half-loaded?
Energy Aspects notes that the Suez Canal has a draft limit — it is too shallow for fully loaded supertankers to pass.
Large tankers must transit half-loaded, then reload in the Mediterranean before continuing.
Put simply = the canal is too shallow, so big ships "offload half, cross, then reload" — cutting both efficiency and cost.
What does this mean for Asian buyers?
Unlike the 1970s–1980s, Saudi Arabia's biggest customers are now in Asia, not Europe or North America.
Rerouting via Africa stretches delivery to Asian markets from under three weeks to nearly seven — a sharp compression of supply-chain flexibility.
This reflects a dual squeeze — rising transport costs and lengthening lead times — that tests the sustainability of this alternate route. The longer it lasts, the stronger the incentive for Asian buyers to seek alternative suppliers.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.