The number of geared and panamax bulkers avoiding transits through the Red Sea appears to have increased over the past week, according to analysis.
A research note by shipbroker Braemar on Tuesday said there has been an apparent jump in the number of these bulkers entering the South Atlantic from the North Atlantic over the past seven days.
Many commercial vessels have been avoiding the region due to attacks on ships by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Thirty-nine supramaxes and ultramaxes entered the South Atlantic region in this way in the week ending 7 January.
This is up from a weekly average of 22 to 23 in the six previous weeks, Braemar said.
The same seems to be true for panamax bulkers, of which 18 vessels made their way to the South Atlantic from the north of the basin during the first week of the year.
This appears to be some way above the weekly average of 5 to 6 vessels in the preceding six-week period.
All 18 panamaxes were ostensibly on their way to Asia, with 10 vessels carrying coal from Colombia and the US; two vessels laden with American grain and another with French wheat, Braemar said.
The data is the first to show a change in the routing trends of bulkers of up to panamax in size, the research said.
Capesize bulkers have already shown significant rerouting away from the Red Sea.
During the final week of 2023, five of the nine capesizes that would otherwise have transited through the area appeared to have been diverted from the Red Sea and routed around the Cape of Good Hope after steaming towards — or even reaching — the Mediterranean Sea, Braemar said.
