With an increase of the risk of Iranian-fueled missile attacks by Houthi terrorists from Yemen, some oil tankers are being diverted away from the Red Sea route that leads to the Suez Canal. According to GCaptain.com, crude oil shipments from Russia via the Arctic Ocean may reach a new high point in coming weeks.
That means residents of Alaska’s Little Diomede, Wales, Brevet Mission, Point Hope, Nome, and other coastal communities may see a few more Russian oil tankers passing through the Bering Strait before freeze-up, as tankers race against winter. Late September is considered to be the lowest ice floe level before winter takes over. There are a few oil tankers that are designed for light ice conditions. The biggest one to ever take the northern route is on its way.
“The largest oil tanker to venture onto Russia’s Northern Sea Route, the 164,565 dwt Prisma, began its icy transit over the weekend bound for Tianjin in China,” the website reported.
Tianjin, Xingang, formerly called the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and serves as the gateway to Beijing. The Suezmax-class vessel Prisma can carry around one million barrels of oil, roughly same volume as the Sounion, which was blown up by Houthis last week in the Red Sea.
The tanker is said to have departed the port of Ust-Luga on Aug. 10, and should complete its trip to China in about 35 days. The Prisma is due there on Sept. 15, which puts it in the Bering Strait within a few days. That, in turn, will probably mean an increase of U.S. Coast Guard patrols.
The shorter-but-icier and possibly stormier transit time compares to 45 days for the Suez Canal route and 55 days for going around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Many other ships are taking the Africa detour due to Houthi terrorists.
“Prisma will likely be followed by up to a dozen more Suezmax and Aframax tankers this summer. Just in the past two weeks four Suezmax and Aframax tankers have received permission to travel along the route, including tankers Galaxy and Voyager. They join more than a dozen large carriers who were granted permits earlier this summer,” the website reports.
Rick Whitbeck, Alaska director of Power The Future, said “While the Biden/Harris/Walz team continues to hamstring Alaska’s resource development opportunities, our sworn adversaries, China and Russia, continue to enrich and empower each other. Alaska could be exporting LNG to the Pacific Rim, thwarting the emerging Russia/CCP advantages in the Arctic. Instead, Democrats in power wage a war against American energy and national security.”
Whitbeck called for a change in policy and leadership in Washington. “It shouldn’t be this way. A change in federal leadership is needed. If we get it in November, we’ll see the U.S. reclaim its place as the world’s leading energy provider,” he said.
More details are at this link.
