(Bloomberg) — Millions of barrels of oil continued to flow through the Strait of Hormuz this weekend even after Iran claimed to have closed the waterway again, as Washington and Tehran offer contrasting narratives over the status of the world’s most important shipping chokepoint.
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Five laden oil supertankers with a combined transport capacity of 8 million barrels could be seen entering or traveling inside the strait on Saturday and Sunday via a route that hugs Oman’s coast, before going “dark.” One of them subsequently resumed sending automated signals early on Sunday after it had reached the Gulf of Oman.
If all the tankers sail through, their movements would support the US military’s assertion that it can successfully defend the southern route near Oman’s coast, despite Iran claiming broad control over the waterway and insisting its northern corridor is the only permitted route. A handful of vessels were also seen entering the Persian Gulf using the southern route.
Read: Iran Floats ‘Insurance Fees’ and Asserts Control Over Hormuz
US Central Command said on Saturday that 17 million barrels had passed through Hormuz, despite the reports in Iran’s media that the strait was closed. A liaison between navies and shipping said early Saturday that vessels could transit on the Omani side at any time of day while making their locations visible, in a notice issued before Iran said Hormuz was shut.
As Iran and the US jostle to control the narrative around Hormuz, and as the two sides began talks in Switzerland on a peace deal, shippers, traders and producers are left trying to assess whether it’s safe to transit the strait.
Omani Route
The Gulf Sunrise, hauling about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude to Japan is now crossing the Gulf of Oman, its automated tracking signals show, after vanishing from screens near the apex of the strait on Saturday. The Angola B, loaded with Emirati crude, was last seen rounding the tip of the Musandam peninsula, an Omani exclave that justs into Hormuz, on Saturday. The Monaco Loyalty was yet to reach the apex of the strait when it disappeared, also on Saturday.
Two smaller 1-million barrel tankers, the Suezmax-class vessels Nordic Cross and the Nordic Pollux, last signaled early on Sunday from a location that put them on course to travel along the Omani route.
Emails to the ships’ managers weren’t immediately returned. All cargoes are based on vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and information from Kpler.
Despite Iran’s saying Hormuz is shut, ships have also been also emitting signals near its own coastline too.
The Desh Vibhor, Desh Vaibhav and Sanmar Herald were observed in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea on Sunday, after having been last seen signaling their attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz late Friday, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. They may have transited the strait before Iran announced it was closed again.
The supertankers, each signaling Indian ownership or India-bound cargo, carry between them about 6 million barrels of Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil. They all signaled near Iran’s Qeshm island, suggesting they took the Tehran-approved route.
Shipping Corporation of India, which is listed as the owner and manager of Desh Vibhor and Desh Vaibhav, on database Equasis, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment outside of regular business hours. Neither did Sanmar Shipping Ltd., the operator of Sanmar Herald.
In addition to the exits, a handful of empty tankers were also seen entering the Persian Gulf along the Omani coast. One was a very large gas carrier that had traveled from Duqum on the Gulf of Oman.
The other two were crude supertankers that most recently delivered Emirati crude. One of the VLCCs openly signaled its location in one of the anchorages in the Gulf of Oman a few days ago. Some Gulf producers are known to dispatch tankers “dark” through Hormuz so that the cargoes can be transferred onto fresh vessels waiting in those waters without drawing attention to these shipments.
Liquefied natural gas carriers were also observed sailing into the Persian Gulf, with ship-tracking data suggesting they had done so late Friday.
The naval notice that ships could pass along the Omani side with their transponders on came from the Joint Military Information Center early on Saturday morning.
“Mariners are advised that they may transit the southern route day or night with their AIS on, radars radiating, running lights on, and normal use of VHF,” the JMIC said, referring to the automated identification system from transponders, and very high frequency radio communications.
JMIC’s advice also followed an alert by Pakistan late Friday that there was a confirmed mine spotted along the southern route. Pakistan has responsibility for coordinating navigational warnings in the area.
(Updates with additional vessel signals from second paragraph.)
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