Tanker Traffic Slows as Tensions Rise in the Strait of Hormuz Following U.S. Attack on Iranian Nuclear Sites

• Oil tankers changed direction away from the Strait of Hormuz amid growing worries about the potential shutdown of this crucial maritime trading passage.
• The UK Maritime Trade Operations has released reports detailing extensive electronic interference along with GPS jamming and location spoofing, which are exacerbating concerns among shipowners.
• The actions come after a U.S. strike on Saturday targeted what were confirmed to be three key nuclear enrichment sites in Iran.

A growing number of oil tankers are turning back from the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating worries about the potential shutdown of this crucial maritime trade route.

Yui Torikata, a senior liquid markets analyst at the industry data company Kpler, stated that the circumstances remain unpredictable.

The company’s records indicate a significant incident took place from late Saturday night through early Monday morning involving at least six ships: two ultra-large crude carriers, three chemical tankers, and one vessel transporting refined products. diverted their courses away through the Strait of Hormuz.

The particular vessels recognized are:

• Damsgaard (flag of Norway, left from Pakistan's Port Qasim on June 20, en route to Ruwais in Abu Dhabi)
• The vessel South Loyalty (bearing the Marshall Islands flag, which left Ulsan Port in South Korea on May 14, bound for Basra in Iraq)
• COSWISDOM Lake (flag of Hong Kong, set sail from Zhanjiang, China on June 7, bound for the UAE’s Zirku Island)
• Kohzan Maru (bearing the UK flag, left Niigata port on May 29 with no scheduled destination port stop)
• Red Ruby (with Panama's flag, left the Fujairah area in the UAE on June 18 but returned to the anchorage at Fujairah)
• Marie C (flag of Marshall Islands, left Fujairah anchorage on June 22, en route to Kuwait)

Every vessel is sailing without cargo, indicating they are either devoid of goods or transporting minimal weight items.

“Nonetheless, the circumstances have progressed,” Torikata stated. “By this morning, out of those six ships—the South Loyalty, Coswisdom Lake, and Damsgaard—three have altered their course once more and are now moving back toward the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the remaining trio of vessels remains stationary near the shores of Khor Fakkan and Muscat.”

Viewed more broadly, this particular weekend event needs to be considered against the backdrop," Torikata stated. "Following the Israel-Iran conflict, the availability of idle [ballast] crude carriers in the Middle East Gulf region plummeted to an all-time low, reflecting substantial hesitation among ship owners about operating in that vicinity. Nonetheless, that pattern has now shifted.

She noted that the number of available tankers increased as the week progressed, and the quantity of crude carriers in the Gulf of Oman indicating their plan to enter the Mideast Gulf also rebounded from the lows observed on June 16th. This indicates that currently, the general movement of ships into this area continues unabated even with the recent particular rerouting incident."

The actions come after a U.S. strike on Saturday targeting what were identified as three key nuclear enrichment sites in Iran.

Andy Lipow, who serves as the president of Lipow Oil Associates, mentioned that the extensive reports from the UK Maritime Trade Operations regarding pervasive electronic disruptions and GPS jamming along with location spoofing are heightening concerns among shipowners.

Worries of more tensions

Frontline tanker Front Eagle and dark fleet tanker Adalynn collided last week near the Strait of Hormuz. Following the collision, a fire on the deck of the Front Eagle erupted and was extinguished.

"In addition to rising insurance expenses, some property owners will likely steer clear of these areas — similar to what Frontline did," Lipow stated.

Recently, the tanker company announced that they will cease taking on new agreements for voyages passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Lipow further explained, "This leads to an effective partial supply interruption when there aren’t enough tankers available for exporting the required oil."

Lipow mentioned that some shipowners could think China, which purchases 90% of Iran’s crude oil plus substantial amounts of oil from the Middle East, is exerting pressure on Iran to avoid disrupting maritime traffic," he explained. "Even though oil exports serve as Iran's primary economic support and halting these shipments wouldn’t benefit them, should they find themselves backed into a corner, Iran might choose to cause as much financial distress globally as possible.

Iran's legislature cast their votes on Sunday to close off the Strait of Hormuz. According to a report from Iran’s state-run Press TV, which could not be independently verified by appstoreofficial.id, the ultimate decision lies with the nation's National Security Council.

Lipow said the conflict could spark additional geopolitical instability.

Although China has criticized the U.S. strike on Iran, we haven’t observed China offering Iran anything beyond verbal support," Lipow stated. "With Russia attacking Ukraine and the U.S. striking Iran, China might now feel encouraged to take action against Taiwan.

Jakob Larsen, who leads security operations at Bimco—the global membership group for shipowners, charterers, shipbrokers, and agents—cautioned that Iran might try to cause broader disruptions to commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz via assaults on cargo vessels. He mentioned that such attacks could involve anti-ship missiles or various kinds of drones, whether launched from air or sea. .

Larsen stated that deploying naval mines could be seen as an additional perilous move; however, he expressed doubt about Iran’s likelihood of taking such action because it poses risks to vessels associated with Iran and may lead to significant ecological consequences should one of these ships get harmed.

The Strait of Hormuz, linking the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea, is acknowledged as one of the key maritime passages. global's key oil bottlenecks The incapability of oil to pass through, even for a short time, can increase worldwide energy costs , increase shipping fees and cause substantial delivery postponements.

In 2023, the waterway carries an oil flow. averaged Approximately 20.9 million barrels per day, representing around 20% of worldwide petroleum liquid fuels usage, as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Hormuz manages under 4% of worldwide container traffic, yet the ports of Jebel Ali and Khor Fakkan play crucial intermediate roles within regional global maritime routes.

Most of the cargo volume coming from these ports is headed for Dubai, which has established itself as a key center for transporting goods via feeder services across the Persian Gulf, South Asia, and East Africa.