Korean tanker passes Suez Canal carrying crude to Korea, third since Hormuz blockade
In short
A Korean oil tanker has passed the Suez Canal and is carrying crude oil to Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Oct. 5. The ministry said the vessel cleared the canal safely as of 10:00 a.m. and was heading home. The documents describe the transit as the third by a Korean tanker through the Suez Canal since the Hormuz Strait blockade.
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A Korean oil tanker has passed the Suez Canal and is carrying crude oil toward Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Oct. 5. The ministry said the vessel passed the canal safely as of 10:00 a.m. that day and was under way to Korea. Chosun Ilbo noted that the canal connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and is the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia. [ 1 , 3 ]
The three documents describe the passage as the third by a Korean tanker through the Suez Canal since the Hormuz Strait blockade. Yonhap reported separately that the previous Suez Canal passage by a Korean tanker was on Aug. 19, a month and a half earlier, and that this vessel is the 18th to carry crude oil to Korea via the Red Sea since the blockade. The documents do not explain how those counts fit together. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to Yonhap, Korean tankers turned to the Red Sea as an alternative route after the Hormuz Strait blockade in late February, loading crude at the Saudi port of Yanbu and passing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the south. From mid-August, military clashes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels raised the risk at Bab el-Mandeb, and ships began using the northern Suez Canal instead. That route passes through the Mediterranean and around the southern tip of Africa, lengthening the voyage and increasing costs, Yonhap reported. [ 1 ]
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the decision to use the northern Suez Canal rather than Bab el-Mandeb was made by shipping companies and cargo owners, according to Yonhap. The documents do not name the vessel or its operator, give the size of the cargo, or say which Korean port it is bound for. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The transit is a small, concrete sign of how Korean crude imports have been rerouted since the Hormuz Strait blockade, with ships taking longer and costlier paths through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. It matters most for oil shipping costs and supply timing rather than for immediate shortages, since the documents report a safe passage and give no figures on volumes or prices.
Key facts
- A Korean oil tanker passed the Suez Canal and was carrying crude oil toward Korea as of 10:00 a.m. on Oct. 5, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The ministry said the vessel passed the canal safely. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The documents describe the passage as the third by a Korean tanker through the Suez Canal since the Hormuz Strait blockade. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Yonhap reported that the previous Suez Canal passage by a Korean tanker was on Aug. 19, a month and a half earlier. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reported that this is the 18th vessel to carry crude oil to Korea via the Red Sea since the Hormuz Strait blockade. [ 1 ]
- After the blockade in late February, Korean tankers used the Red Sea as an alternative route, loading crude at Yanbu in Saudi Arabia and passing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. [ 1 ]
- From mid-August, Korean tankers began using the northern Suez Canal route because of military clashes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. [ 1 ]
- The Suez route goes through the Mediterranean and around the southern tip of Africa, making the voyage longer and more costly. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the passage is the third by a Korean tanker through the Suez Canal or the first since Aug. 19, and how the figure of three relates to the 18 vessels Yonhap says have carried crude to Korea via the Red Sea. Yonhap's article says the last Suez passage was on Aug. 19 and that this is the 18th Red Sea-route shipment since the blockade, while the headlines of all three documents call it the third Suez passage; the documents do not reconcile these counts and the numbering rests on a single outlet's article.
- Which shipping company and vessel are involved, how much crude is on board, and which Korean port the cargo is bound for. None of the documents name the operator, the ship, the cargo volume or the destination port.
- Details behind the transit, other than the headline. The Newsis article text available to us deals with a military investigation into a DMZ mine explosion on the western front, not with the tanker, so that outlet's tanker coverage is limited to its headline.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Hormuz Strait is blockaded, after which Korean tankers use the Red Sea as an alternative route. [ 1 ]
- Korean tankers begin using the northern Suez Canal route as the risk at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait rises amid clashes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. [ 1 ]
- The previous passage of a Korean tanker through the Suez Canal, according to Yonhap. [ 1 ]
- A Korean oil tanker has safely passed the Suez Canal and is sailing toward Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries says. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Yonhap publishes its report citing the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. [ 1 ]
- Newsis publishes its headline on the tanker's third Suez Canal transit. [ 2 ]
- Chosun Ilbo publishes its summary on the tanker's third Suez Canal transit. [ 3 ]