Thread by @charlesbonnerjr

Red Sea, Suez Canal, and Attacks on Marine Traffic

While it is true that VLCCs cannot fit through the Suez Canal, many partially discharge into the SUMED Pipeline and top-off on the other side
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The Suez-Mediterranean pipeline, known as Sumed, has the capacity of 2.5 million barrels of oil per day. The pipeline was financed by a consortium of Arab countries, primarily Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt and completed in 1977
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Construction started in 1973 when the Egyptian Government announced Oct. 1 that it had awarded a $345.4 million contract for building the pipeline to the privately owned Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco

Roger Edward Tamraz conceived and negotiated the project.
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In the first half of 2023, northbound crude oil flowing through the Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline had increased by more than 60% from 2020, as demand in Europe and the United States rose
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Southbound shipments through the Suez Canal rose significantly between 2021-2023, because of sanctions on Russia’s oil exports. Oil exports from Russia accounted for 74% of Suez southbound oil traffic in the first half of 2023, up from 30% in 2021.
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Sidi Kerir terminal in Egypt consists of 30 floating roof storage tanks of 3.3 million m3 total capacity:
-15 tanks of 103,000 m3 each
-15 tanks of 117,000 m3 each

Crude is delivered to the tankers via six SBMs capable of accommodating tankers up to 400,000 dead weight tons
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Ain Sukhna Terminal in the Red Sea handles ~350 vessels and 80,000,000t of crude oil annually
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The Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline remains one of the most important global choke points for crude oil, accounting for about 12% of total seaborne-traded oil in the first half of 2023 per the EIA

Recent vessel attacks in the region have led for calls of military support
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