Iran’s Attack Leads Tankers to Avoid Strait of Hormuz
At least four tankers transporting oil and liquid natural gas (LNG) have opted out of navigating through the Strait of Hormuz following an Iranian assault on three vessels on Tuesday, according to a ship-tracking service report issued on Wednesday.
The attack involved Iranian forces targeting ships that were carrying drones and missiles, which resulted in major damage to a Qatari LNG tanker named Al Reqayat. This ship reportedly caught fire in its engine room, creating a serious situation, although the fire has since been extinguished. Currently, the tanker is stranded near the Oman coast.
Another vessel affected was a Saudi-flagged oil tanker called Wedian. While it sustained considerable damage, the crew was reported safe and the ship remained seaworthy. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported from either incident.
This series of events unfolded after hostile radio messages from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). These messages instructed all ships to follow routes they controlled off the Iranian coast and threatened consequences for those taking the U.S.-recommended paths near Oman.
Ship tracking companies Kpler and LSEG confirmed that three LNG tankers, including Al-Gharia, Duhail, and Al Ruwais, were approaching the Strait of Hormuz before the Iranian attack but turned around on Tuesday evening.
All three vessels are overseen by QatarEnergy, the country’s state-owned energy firm. They are presently empty, likely waiting to load cargo at Qatar’s LNG export terminal in the port city of Ras Laffan.
The fourth tanker that retreated from the Strait was an Indian-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) known as Lila Vadinar, which was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from Kuwait as opposed to Qatar’s LNG.
Currently, more than twelve LNG tankers are anchored near Ras Laffan, anticipated to set sail through the Strait once conditions are deemed safe. Many other vessels are positioned on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the attack on Tuesday, some maritime traffic was still managing to navigate through the strait, although this was a tiny fraction of what is typically expected in this critical waterway.
Since the Strait of Hormuz was allegedly reopened following a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran, peak daily traffic had reached about 40 ships, down from the prewar average of 125. Even before the recent Iranian attacks, traffic had dwindled to just 16 ships daily.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) recently adjusted the threat level for crossing the Strait of Hormuz from “severe” to “severe,” reflecting ongoing concerns. Their advisory to mariners underscored the necessity for extreme vigilance, noting that recent incidents illustrate a dangerously elevated threat landscape.
UK Maritime Trading Operations (UKMTO) has raised alarms about the situation, advising that Iran attacked vessels and issued alerts to merchant ships.
In a related development, President Donald Trump addressed the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, suggesting a potential reimposition of the U.S. blockade against Iran, which could include punitive airstrikes or even more drastic actions like targeting Iran’s primary oil export terminal on The Hague Island.
Some security analysts have indicated that control over the Strait of Hormuz has become more crucial for Iran than its nuclear capabilities. This “golden weapon,” as they call it, presents a means of economic leverage and a source of revenue through potential fees and ransoms.
Iranian officials assert that it would be “impossible” for the U.S. to take control of the strait from them, viewing a return to free navigation as an unacceptable concession to U.S. dominance. They seem quite confident, having even flouted a memorandum regarding shipping attacks, trying to project that they command the exit from the Persian Gulf and that complying with their demands is essential for normalizing shipping traffic.
