A laden LNG carrier has entered the Gulf of Suez becoming the first vessel of its type to take the passage in almost three months. The large global gas fleet opted to avoid the area in the wake of attacks against merchant vessels by Houthi militants.
The 174,000-cbm Flex Volunteer (built 2021) arrived at the northern entrance to Suez Canal on 12 April, according to Kpler data, and was shown moving through the Gulf of Suez on Friday.
The Flex LNG-owned vessel, which is listed as on charter to trader Vitol, loaded a cargo at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG plant on 24 March.
Kpler data gives the LNG carrier’s destination as Aqaba in Jordan where the 160,000-cbm floating storage and regasification unit Energos Eskimo (built 2014) is located.
This would mean that the vessel would only briefly be in the most northerly waters of the Red Sea before turning north again into the Gulf of Aqaba.
The nearly 80 confirmed attacks carried out by the Houthis against merchant vessels took place in the Southern Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
Industry watchers suggested the shipment could be a one-off for the FSRU rather than marking a return of shipping to the attack-hit region.
All LNG carriers have been avoiding the Red Sea and Suez Canal since mid-January when attacks against merchant vessels ramped up in response to the ongoing Israeli-Gaza conflict.
On 13 January, the Flex Volunteer then joined other LNG carriers in diverting from their planned passages into the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea in favour of the longer southerly route via the Cape of Good Hope.
Qatari vessels were among the last to turn away from the Suez Canal route.
