At least two vessels that were hauling fuel from Kuwait to Europe appear to have shifted their track to avoid the Red Sea after Houthi militants hit a fuel-tanker over the weekend.

The Minerva Pacifica and Advantage Porto Cervo are both carrying cargoes that loaded in the Middle East country and were booked by Kuwait Petroleum Corp., according to lists of charters compiled by Bloomberg and information from data intelligence provider Kpler. 

Over the weekend, both were signaling the Suez Canal as their next destination, which would mean taking the risk of sailing through the Bab El-Mandeb, near Yemen. However, the two ships now appear to be veering away, with one seemingly set to sail thousands of miles further around Africa. 

It comes after a ship chartered by commodity-trading giant Trafigura Group was struck by a missile on January 26 while sailing through the Gulf of Aden — the most significant strike yet on a vessel hauling petroleum since Houthi rebels began targeting merchant shipping late in 2023. 

While many oil tankers had already been avoiding the region prior to that strike, some, including regional oil giants like Saudi Aramco, were continuing to sail through. 

Other ships also appeared to stay away. Aframax Free Spirit, which is carrying oil from South Sudan, made a u-turn in the southern Red Sea close to the Bab el-Mandeb on January 26, shortly after reports of an attack on a vessel.

Despite the diversions, lots of tankers — many hauling Russian oil — continue to ferry barrels through the waterway. 

At least six shipments of crude and fuel made their way through the chokepoint on January 28 alone, ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.