ULSAN — Crude oil arriving at Ulsan Port from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, a route used to avoid security risks in the Strait of Hormuz, surged as much as 8.7-fold in the first half of this year. But a recent strike on the pipeline feeding Yanbu, combined with mounting threats in the Red Sea, has raised concerns over a "double bottleneck" in which the main route and its alternative are blocked at the same time.
According to an analysis of crude arrivals by loading port released by Ulsan Customs on the 14th, volumes shipped from Yanbu to Ulsan Port between January 2025 and Sept. 13, 2026 have swung sharply this year.
Last year, Yanbu-loaded crude arriving at Ulsan Port held steady at one vessel a month, or roughly 230,000 to 280,000 tons, averaging about 256,000 tons a month for the year. This year, volumes moved from 229,000 tons in January and zero in February to 514,000 tons in March. They then climbed steeply to 1.36 million tons in April and 1.668 million tons in May before spiking to 2.218 million tons, carried by eight vessels, in June. The June figure was 8.7 times the prior-year monthly average.
Arrivals stayed near that peak in July at 2.206 million tons on eight vessels, but fell to 1.382 million tons on five vessels in August, down 37.4% from the previous month. As of the 13th of this month, 567,000 tons had arrived on two vessels.
Yanbu is a Red Sea hub that receives crude from oil fields in eastern Saudi Arabia via the East-West Pipeline and exports it from there. It serves as an alternative route for shipping crude to Asia without passing through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. As the risk of military conflict in the Strait of Hormuz grew, Saudi Arabia expanded exports along the bypass route, and much of that volume flowed to Ulsan Port.
The alternative route, however, is far from secure. The East-West Pipeline leading to Yanbu was recently hit by a drone attack that disrupted operations. Navigation risks around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the exit from the Red Sea, have also intensified as Yemen's Houthi forces widen their attacks. That has fueled concern that Middle East crude shipping networks could be cut off from both the Hormuz and Red Sea directions.
Ulsan Customs said it plans to track cargo volumes and shipping routes at Yanbu and other major loading ports to analyze the impact on supply chains for local industry.
An Ulsan Customs official said the importance of the Yanbu bypass has grown because of instability in the Strait of Hormuz, but risks along the Red Sea route are also increasing. The official said the agency will move beyond monitoring centered on importing countries to closely examine flows by loading port and sea route in order to prepare for supply chain shocks.
