Strait of Hormuz tanker trafficking rebounding a day after unexplained U-turns

The products tanker (in red) that had U-turned on Saturday is attempting a Hormuz transit again on the Omani side on Sunday. One other products tanker and a crude carrier also crossed. Source: Bloomberg

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Oil and gas shipping along a U.S.-protected corridor in the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of recovering Sunday, a day after a batch of vessels performed unexplained U-turns and detours in the vital energy corridor.

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Six oil and gas freighters were observed navigating on a route that cleaves close to Oman’s coast. Those are only what’s observable, with many ships known to sail through with their transponders off to avoid digital detection. Western navies continue to say that, while traffic continues, the threat risk is “substantial” and that the center of the strait has been mined. Two other small tankers exited the Persian Gulf by sailing closer to Iran.

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The oil market is fixated on what’s moving through Hormuz and how, a task that’s become tougher because of ships trying to avoid the attentions of Iran’s military as they come and go. Over Friday and Saturday, at least eight vessels were seen U-turning as they sailed through along the Omani route. Four of them subsequently went on to sail northward toward the Iranian route and exited the strait.

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Of the U-turners, at least one fuel tanker appeared to be making a fresh attempt to transit on Sunday, sailing past the tip of Oman’s Musandam peninsula. Another products tanker transited along the same route earlier, openly signalling its intentions, and is now broadcasting a location in the Gulf of Oman.

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Others are opting to cross in the dark, popping up once clear of the waterway. One Suezmax crude carrier appeared in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday after last broadcasting from within the Persian Gulf on Saturday.

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There was no immediate explanation for the ships that turned back on Friday and Saturday, though Iran has repeatedly said that vessels should only transit the strait through the route designated and authorized by the Islamic Republic. Naval liaison groups have yet to comment on the abrupt U-turns, although the Joint Maritime Intelligence Center repeated on Sunday that Iranian forces continue to harass shipping.

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On Saturday, 19 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz in either direction, but only one openly signalled its inbound transit along the Omani coast, Kpler data show. That compares with Friday’s count of 13 along the route. This tally includes only observed transits, and figures may change as more dark crossings — made without transponders switched on — are verified.

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For much of the war, several ships attempting to leave the Persian Gulf through Hormuz have reported warnings by Iranian forces over radio communications, saying that they should not proceed without getting Tehran’s permission. Iran has fired on some of the vessels that sailed on.

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Tanker companies have been struggling with the stop-start reopening of Hormuz. Their willingness to take on the risk of crossing the narrow waterway is crucial for the normalization of the oil market, still recovering from a historic four-month crisis.

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