The quote already ran. The intercept already ran. Thursday’s 23 already ran. Perim, Mokha, and Mayun as first-day news already ran. This is the unused traffic print.
AFP, Friday, Sept. 18, 9:41 p.m.: maritime tracker Kpler counted five laden vessels carrying Saudi products leaving the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb in the past seven days. AFP: the figure has not been higher since the week of July 24, when 11 laden Saudi-product vessels exited. Five is not 11. Five is not a zero. We will not dress July’s 11 up as this week.
Beyond the Saudi slice, AFP said outbound crude through the strait ran below average: about 3.4 million barrels a day exported since Sept. 11, against about 4.4 million a day since Jan. 1. Commodity tanker traffic did not stop. Kpler: about 24 ships a day both ways over the past week, against 31 a day since January. 24 is not 31. 24 is not a blockade we will invent.
The Houthis say there is no threat to navigation in the strait except Saudi vessels. Sunday’s unused AP interview with Mohamed al-Bukhaiti already ran that line: U.S. vessels, they say, are not targets; Saudi shipping still is. A slogan is not insurance. Any attack in the waterway, AFP noted, can still push shippers off the route. That is a warning, not a new hull count.
Riyadh intercept already ran. China asked already ran. 100,000 already ran. We will not reprint the mid-September island seizure as Monday’s first-day news.
What this means for you
If you ship, five laden Saudi-product exits in seven days is the unused number, not Thursday’s 23. If you needed yesterday’s quote, it still stands. If you needed an open Hormuz, this file does not give you one. Not investment advice.
Bottom line: Five laden Saudi-product ships in seven days. 24 a day, not 31. Not Bukhaiti. Not 23.
GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.
