Half a dozen empty Saudi oil tankers have turned away in the Arabian Sea from the Red Sea chokepoint Bab el-Mandeb and headed south around Africa in the western direction, in highly unusual moves for tankers loading crude from the Middle East. All six tankers turned away from Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthi threats to Saudi shipping and actual attacks on tankers prompted Saudi Arabia to re-route its crude oil exports, again, to Egypt. The round-Africa trip would add at least two weeks to the journey of a supertanker compared to a trip through Bab el-Mandeb northward toward the Suez Canal. The Houthi threat, which resulted in attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea last week, has prompted Saudi and Western operators to divert laden tankers to the Suez Canal in Egypt to bypass the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb have already forced at least one oil tanker carrying Saudi crude to Asia to choose the much longer route through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, and around Africa.