This morning's updates.....including posturing, rejecting, and lots of movement through the Strait of Hormuz
First of all....the good news. Ships are really going for it in the Strait of Hormuz. The last 24 hours has seen at least 20 ships with active AIS make successful transits, chances are there will be several without AIS activated too, in both directions. It isn't the pre-war numbers but it is a start. Ship owners / operators and their crews need to be commended in their pushing back against two argumentative regimes to get trade back in motion. It also needs to be said that the ships are rejecting the route laid out by Iran north of Larak Island, no tolls being paid.
Screenshot taken a few minutes ago
Bearing in mind the risks of undertaking a transit with full AIS, defying Iran on their desired route takes a lot of courage, especially when ships have been targets of aggression.
The anchorages of the Persian Gulf are seeing a lot of movement this morning. Doha has seen ships leaving the anchorages following the attack on Leya. This inevitably means the other anchorages around UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are now more crowded. One cluster of pleasure craft has been growing rapidly off Bahrain, perhaps they intend leaving the Persian Gulf in one big swarm....a bit of bamboozling of the Iranian skiffs, maybe
The anchorages of the Gulf of Oman were in their tight huddles overnight but they are now dispersing back to normality. Lurking in the region is a mixed task force of Naval ships from 44 nationalities, which has not gone down well with the Iranians, they are there to assist in evacuating ships from the Persian Gulf once there are signatures on the dotted line on the bottom of a peace agreement....which currently seems to be subject to a gulf wider than the Strait of Hormuz and unlikely to happen any time soon. Which is probably why the ship owners and operators and their crews are taking matters into their own hands by escaping like herds of mice whilst the cats fight in the corner.
An idea has been hatched to assist with the transit of oil, oil products, gas and other cargoes across Saudi Arabia and UAE, besides the vast network of pipelines currently working. Route 95 that runs from Alkwifiriah in Saudi Arabia close to the Qatari border via Shaybah oil fields to Ramlet Khelah in Oman is being utilised for shipments by road, and trains are being utilised on the Dammam, Jubail, Ras Al Khair, Al Kharj, and Hail routes through to Red Sea ports. Route 85 that follows the path of the defunct Trans Arabian Pipeline from Dammam to Al Hadithah on the Jordanian border is also being utilised, the road had been closed due to the Syrian hostilities but is now back in use and allows for shipments to travel right through to Tartus on the Mediterranean. In relation to sea / land routes to enable shipments to reach European countries and beyond, some of the shipping companies are working hard alongside the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman ports to enable ships to start new routes in both directions by the end of this month. Examples of this include MSC starting routes from Antwerp to Jeddah and King Abdullah Port in the Red Sea return, Hapag-Lloyd are looking to increase their ship routing from European ports to and from Khor Fakkan, Sohar, Muscat and Fujairah. Shipments to Antwerp and other ports such as Rotterdam and Gibraltar will be transferred to other ships and taken where they are needed, including the UK and Scandinavia. It is not going to be at the same capacity of a normally running Strait of Hormuz, be it will help ease things until the Strait is fully reopened.
Finally....and sadly...there is still no news of CMA CGM San Antonio. I have been checking for non AIS shipping arriving at Mundra and she still isn't there yet. Can only hope that the remaining crew are safe and that the ship will show itself eventually.
That's all the updates for now. Will be back tomorrow morning.