Tankers Go Dark in Strait of Hormuz, Visible Traffic Falls by More Than Half

A total of 17 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on the weekend, down from 37 a week earlier, shipping data showed on Monday, as tension in the Persian Gulf persisted with the US and Iran in stalemate.

Visible traffic through the strait, the conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war, has dwindled to a trickle. However, Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers travelling with their transponders off.

Among trackable ships, five vessels exited the strait on Sunday, while another two small-sized oil tankers entered the gulf, provisional data from analytics firm Kpler showed as of 07:06 GMT.

The vessels that exited were the very large crude carrier Pinios, two tankers carrying refined oil products, and two empty carriers for bulk goods and gas.

VLCC transferring crude off Fujairah, data shows

The Pinios was on Monday transferring two million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude oil off the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah to another VLCC, New Constant, which is expected to head to China, Kpler and LSEG data showed.

Dynacom, which manages the Pinios, and Associated Maritime Co HK, manager of New Constant, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Saturday, eight vessels, including a supertanker, left the gulf carrying crude, agricultural and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and fertiliser, while a very large gas carrier and a VLCC entered, the data showed.

The Shandong Redwood LNG tanker, carrying a cargo loaded from Qatar’s Ras Laffan port, exited the Hormuz strait on September 19 and is heading to Pakistan, data from Kpler and LSEG showed.

Its manager Shandong Marine Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before the US-Israeli war with Iran started on February 28, the Hormuz strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels.

Saudi crude exports rising

Attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline, a key alternative route for Saudi oil flows during the Iran war, have prompted the state energy firm to increase exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next.

A total of 22 tankers, mostly VLCCs, carrying 42 million barrels of crude, exited the Hormuz strait in the week of September 13, Kpler data showed. Saudi Arabia and Iraq each accounted for 43 per cent of the volume.

At the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, 51 vessels made the crossing, with 33 exiting the strait over the weekend, including an Aframax-sized tanker carrying about 700,000 barrels of Saudi crude, Kpler data showed.

That was down from 57 vessels in the previous weekend.

There have been no visible oil loadings from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea since September 16.