Indonesian Oil Ship Sails Safely Through Houthi Cordon Makes US Government Shock

Author: Muhammad Alif
February 4, 2024

Gamsunoro ship owned by Pertamina International Shipping. Photo source: Antara

SEAToday.com, Jakarta- In January 2024, a ship from Indonesia shocked the news of the United States (US). US News reported how the ship identified as Gamsunoro escaped the Houthi attack.

It is known that the Yemeni ruling group was indeed aggressively pounding the waters as a form of protest against the Israeli attack on Palestine. Whereas the Red Sea is a busy waters with 15% of global trade passing through it.

Not only did the ship escape, the ship even walked without any interference from the Houthis. The incident took place on January 17.

It is known that Gamsunoro, which has the Indonesian flag, initially moved away from the waters of the Bab Al Mandab Strait, which is the link between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. However, tracking data from LSEG and Kpler found that the ship suddenly moved back into the waters that were experiencing hot tension.

Gamsunoro is a ship owned by Pertamina International Shipping (PIS). While sailing, the tanker carries heavy fuel from Fujairah, one of the world's largest fuel oil centres located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This ship was built in 2010 and is operated to transport and distribute crude oil, Indonesian-flagged and also manned by Indonesian crews. The ship has a length of 228.6 metres, a width of 42 metres, and a weight tonnage of up to 105,638 DWT.

After passing Bab Al Mandab, Gamsunoro successfully loaded at the port of Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, and left the Red Sea area. The ship will continue the voyage and head to the suez canal.
Gamsunoro's escape from the tensions in the Red Sea is very fortunate. As long as the Houthis occupy most of the Red Sea, some of the world's largest logistics companies refuse to pass through the Red Sea. They prefer to use the African route with a longer journey duration of around 30 days and much more expensive. This condition can cause the price of goods to soar around the world as the cost of shipping goods increases. (ALIF/DKD)