Ship carrying 1 lakh tons of crude oil heads to Chattogram across the dangerous Red Sea

A ship named “MT Andrios” is on its way to Chattogram with 1 lakh tons of crude oil. It crossed the Red Sea and the Bab al Mandeb strait, which are dangerous because of Houthi attacks. The ship loaded oil at Yanbu port and left earlier this month. It passed the Bab al Mandeb strait a few days ago, and it is now near Colombo port in Sri Lanka. It will reach Kutubdia in the Bay of Bengal tomorrow. The oil will then move to lighter ships and go to the Eastern Refinery at Patenga in Chattogram.

Normally, oil from Saudi Arabia came to Bangladesh through the Persian Gulf. Large ships loaded oil at Ras Tanura port in Saudi Arabia. They crossed the Strait of Hormuz, entered the Arabian Sea and reached Chattogram through the Bay of Bengal.

But because of political tension in the Middle East, ship movement through the Strait of Hormuz is very risky and almost stopped. So the route had to change. Saudi Arabia now sends crude oil through its East West Pipeline to Yanbu port on the Red Sea. The ship MT Andrios loaded oil there. To go from the Red Sea to the Bay of Bengal, a ship must cross the narrow Bab al Mandeb strait off the coast of Yemen. This left no other choice but the new route. The ship used several tactics to cross the strait. It will reach Chattogram in 16 days.

Earlier, the ship MT Ninemia brought 1 lakh tons of oil from Saudi Arabia through the Suez Canal and around Africa. That trip took 50 days. The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) then paid a very large transport cost.

Bangladesh Shipping Corporation is another state body that carries crude oil for the Eastern Refinery. Its General Manager (Chartering) Captain Mujibur Rahman said some risk has to be taken. He said taking this risk saved a large transport cost. He said it was possible because the supplier and BPC agreed. He said crossing the Bab al Mandeb strait is now the most dangerous sea voyage in the world.