US LNG Cargoes to Asia Embark on Longer Routes to Avoid Red Sea
- LNG vessels increasingly avoid Red Sea amid violence
- That’s delaying the delivery of cargoes to important buyers
The Vivit Americas LNG vessel.
Photographer: Nachete Muccio/MarineTrafficThis article is for subscribers only.
Liquefied natural gas cargoes recently loaded from the US and bound for Asia are changing course for longer voyages lasting more than a month as they avoid the Red Sea, according to ship-tracking data on Bloomberg.
The diversions highlight a shift in global trade flows after Houthi attacks in the crucial waterway forced hundreds of ships to take safer but longer routes, delaying cargoes. LNG is key for the biggest buyers in northeast Asia, particularly in the winter demand season. The US is the top shipper of the fuel.