Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal recorded its busiest loading day since before the war on September 21, 2026, as six very large crude carriers loaded close to 12 million barrels at Ras Tanura and Juaymah, according to shipping analytics firm Kpler, as reported by Middle East Eye.

The surge followed disruption to Aramco’s East-West pipeline, which lets Saudi crude reach the Red Sea coast without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Kpler said some of the six vessels had already been flagged over the previous six weeks for undeclared ship-to-ship transfers or unusual port calls, which the firm says points to a longer-running pattern of changing vessel behaviour.