Strait of Hormuz: Over 160 Legitimate Tankers Held Hostage
Zero Departures in June
Dramatic slowdown in departures and "paralysis" for the suezmax, aframax, and MR categories.
More than 160 tankers operating in "legitimate" commercial shipping, meaning outside of sanctions regimes and not belonging to the so-called "shadow fleet", now remain trapped in the Middle East Gulf (MEG) for more than 100 days, following the outbreak of hostilities in late February.
At the same time, approximately one-quarter of the legitimate market tankers that were in the region at the start of the crisis have managed to leave the Middle East Gulf over the last three months.
Although some shipowners managed to withdraw vessels from the region, the pace of departures has slowed dramatically. Concurrently, the security situation appears to have deteriorated further over the past week.
According to data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, not a single conventional market tanker has departed from the region so far in June.
The total tanker fleet remaining in the Middle East Gulf is estimated to be carrying more than 3,000 seafarers and crew members.
As security conditions remain uncertain, shipowners are expected to continue exercising extreme caution, resulting in a significant portion of the tanker fleet effectively remaining out of active commercial operation.
The VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) category continues to be particularly hard hit. Out of the fleet that became trapped in the Middle East Gulf after the outbreak of hostilities, just 19 VLCCs have managed to transit the Strait of Hormuz and leave the region. Another 55 VLCCs remain trapped.
Conditions remain difficult for the other tanker categories as well. In the suezmax category, eight vessels managed to leave the Gulf, but 18 still remain trapped.
In the aframax/LR2 category, eight of the 31 vessels trapped since late February have departed, while the majority still either cannot or choose to avoid transiting out of the Gulf. The picture is similar in the panamax/LR1 category, where eight of the 23 trapped vessels have managed to exit the region over the last three months.
Medium-range (MR) tankers appear to have made the least progress. Out of the 63 vessels trapped in the Middle East Gulf, just 10 have transited the Strait of Hormuz and left the region since the start of the crisis.
According to data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, Greek shipowners currently hold the largest number of tankers remaining trapped in the Middle East Gulf, with a total of 35 vessels.
