As the security risk in the Strait of Hormuz reached its highest level, the passage of oil tankers came to a halt, and over 700 tankers piled up on both sides of the Bosphorus.
The Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf connects oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in the Middle East to world markets via the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
A significant amount of oil and oil products, especially from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran, are transported through this strategic passage, where 20 percent of the world’s daily oil consumption (about 20 million barrels) passes. A significant portion of the shipment here goes to Asian countries such as China, India, Japan and South Korea.
The Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed after the attacks launched by the USA and Israel against Iran at the weekend. As insurance companies increased costs due to high risk, ship operators suspended passages through the Bosphorus.
According to analysis by real-time data analytics company Kpler, 15 tankers carrying 21 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products passed through the Strait of Hormuz on February 27. Passages increased to 21.6 million barrels by 18 ships on February 28.
However, as tensions increased in the region, only 3 tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on March 1. 2.8 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products were transported in these tankers. One of the tankers contained approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil.
As of this year, the daily average of crude oil and petroleum products transported through the Strait of Hormuz was 19.8 million barrels. Thus, oil exports from the Bosphorus dropped sharply by 86 percent on March 1 compared to the daily average.
This decrease shows that there was an initial impetus to unload the cargo before the risks increased, and then the transits came to a halt as the conditions worsened.
As of today, 706 non-Iranian tankers are piled up on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz. A total of 334 crude oil tankers, 109 dirty oil products and 263 tankers carrying clean oil products are waiting at different points in the Middle East Gulf (west of the Bosphorus), Gulf of Oman (east of the Bosphorus) and the Arabian Sea.
Even if oil loading to tankers continues in the Gulf, delays in arrivals and an increase in transportation costs are expected due to the decrease in eastbound exits from the Bosphorus and the cargo waiting longer to pass through the Bosphorus.
Even if loading continues within the Gulf, reduced eastbound departures could result in delayed arrivals and increased shipping costs as cargo and tonnage wait longer to pass through the bottleneck.
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Following the joint attack of the USA and Israel against Iran, which started at the weekend, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps issued the following statement to the ships that will use the Strait of Hormuz: “No ships are allowed to pass.” Allegations that he forwarded messages came to the fore.
Despite claims that these messages were transmitted to the ship’s crew in broadcasts made on VHF Channel 16, the international call channel of ships operating in the Persian Gulf, official authorities have not made a statement regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed.
While some container ships were seen making a U-turn to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s leading container shipping companies had suspended passage through the Bosphorus due to increasing security risks in the region.
The British Shipping Organization (UKMTO) announced yesterday that the maritime security situation in the Strait of Hormuz has risen to the “critical” level, the highest risk level, following the confirmation of attacks on multiple commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman, near Musandam and in the coastal waters of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the weekend.
