SINGAPORE, June 21 Reuters Global commodities trader Trafigura loaded diesel onto a supertanker in the Middle East this week, taking advantage of lower freight rates for crude tankers to send more fuel to the West, according to shipping data and several trade sources.

The shipment marks the first VLCC to move diesel in bulk from the Middle East to the West in nearly a year, Kpler data showed, and comes after costs of shipping fuel from Asia to the West jumped.

Attacks by Yemeni Houthis on ships in the Red Sea forced vessels to take a longer route via the Cape of Good Hope, tightening the supply of vessels used to ship clean products such as gasoline and diesel.

The Very Large Crude Carrier Plata Glory loaded mainly gasoil from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co39;s ADNOC Ruwais refinery and in a shiptoship transfer off Fujairah port this week, according to data estimates from Vortexa and two shipping sources.

It has the option to load more fuel before setting off for Africa, possibly Europe after, the sources added.

Trafigura and ADNOC declined to comment.

Traders have cleaned up Suezmaxes and VLCCs to load gasoil and jet fuel mainly from the Middle East and India39;s west coast, Vortexa39;s freight analyst Ioannis Papadimitrou said in a note.

It costs about 70 per ton to ship gasoil from the Middle East or India to Europe on a longrange 2 LR2 vessel that carries 65,000 tons of oil versus 15 per ton on a VLCC that can load 270,000 tons, according to pricing data from SSY…