According to Jin10, foreign trade sources and analysts said Saudi Arabia's shift of crude exports away from Red Sea ports toward the Strait of Hormuz, along with higher exports from other oil producers, has pushed ship-to-ship transfer activity for Middle Eastern crude in the Gulf of Oman close to capacity limits. They said Saudi export volumes rose this month, requiring more very large crude carriers to shuttle oil through the Strait of Hormuz and carry out ship-to-ship transfers, which reduced available market capacity, raised shipping costs, and lengthened crude transport time at sea.