Oil tankers are turning back one after another as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels threaten to blockade the Red Sea, a major crude shipping route.
According to Germany's dpa and the U.S. outlet Bloomberg, on the 21st (local time) the Houthis said that, after they issued a warning as part of a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, six ships turned back in the past 24 hours.
Earlier, the Iran-leaning Houthi rebels in Yemen declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia the previous day.
The area the Houthis seek to blockade is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, used as a detour export route after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked.
Saba, a Houthi-run news agency, said the ships that turned back changed course after receiving the Houthis' warning. Saba did not provide detailed vessel information.
The Houthi-affiliated Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC) sent an email to global shipping companies the previous day warning, "All loading and unloading of cargo by vessels at all Saudi ports is prohibited."
According to Bloomberg, after the Houthis' warning, some tankers carrying Saudi oil began changing course in the Red Sea.
Some vessels approaching the Red Sea temporarily halted operations, while others turned north toward the Suez Canal.
After the warning was issued, several Chinese ships turned back in the Red Sea. A tanker managed by the Greek shipping company Dynacom Tankers also reversed course.
By contrast, ship-tracking data showed there were still tankers accepting the risk and continuing to sail into waters under blockade pressure.
Bloomberg reported that some buyers in Asia still said they hope to load crude in the Red Sea.