Today's updates on the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandab and the ancharages.......including "friendly gestures" concessions, double standards and the figures that simply do not add up
The last 24 hours has seen an increase in traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is trying to curry favour with certain nations...which is to be expected.....by allowing tankers free transit. Nations such as China, Japan, India have all seen vessels pass through without being harrassed. Chinese ships have been allowed through to coincide with the visit to China by president Trump. The Iranians have stated more than once that they have a deep understanding with certain nations and that is reflected by allowing the ships to pass, all diplomatic and nice (or as some might put it, a little bit of sucking up goes a long way).
One of the first to exit was the China bound VLCC, Yuan Hua Hu, carrying approximately 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude. The ship is now well on its way unhindered to Zhoushan from Al Basrah.
It is no surprise that many within the industry are treating this "free pass" for Chinese ships as a coincidence due to president Trumps visit to China with the USN allowing the ship to pass, yet only a few days ago another ship also loaded with Iraqi crude from Al Basrah, the Greek owned and flagged Agios Fanourios I, on her way to Nghi Son was stopped by the USN and remains at anchor off Muscat
The list of who to stop appears, on the face of it, to be a complex and complicated question......especially when the oil isn't Iranian and hasn't come from an Iranian port, which considering the Iranian ports are blockaded by the USN...why would they block oil from Iraqi ports...but only some ships and not others.
In relation to the figures not adding up....confusion abound over the capacity to store oil and oil products in Iran is persisting. Kharg Island is back in business, tankers are being loaded and there is sufficient storage space despite the bombardment received with one organisation, Windward, stating that around 20 tankers were loaded or are in the process of loading that are able to provide approximately 25 million barrels of floating storage capacity. Over and above this, another organisation, Vortexa, have stated that several empty oil and gas tankers have sailed past the USN blockade into the Persian Gulf for Iranian ports for floating storage. Incidently the large oil slick spotted a few days ago seems to be due to a tanker washing its tanks and not as a result of the pipeline leaking or due to damage storage tanks on Kharg Island. Suffice it to say, the oil and gas industry in Iran is working relatively normally and there does not appear to be a shortage of storage capacity on land or floating despite the measures taken by the USN.
More information :
Hormuz Traffic Increases as Iran Metes Out Passage for Political Gain (Maritime Executive - May 15, 2026)
So to the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandab Strait
Hormuz is flowing quite well this morning, several ships in both directions and most avoiding the proverbial toll booth route north of Larak Island
Bab-el-Mandab traffic has increased over the last 24 hours, currently flowing well
At time of typing this, there have been no reported incidents at either Strait.
The Persian Gulf anchorages remain busy, again no reported incidents as yet today. I am wondering if the attack on HMM Namu a few days ago might not have been a mine (as considered by her Korean owners) but maybe a Ghadir midget submarine attack.....thoughts from others here would be welcome. Night time clusters are still being formed across the Persian Gulf, which would be understandable if Ghadir are deployed in the area around Mina Saqr and Ras al Khaimah
Outside the Strait of Hormuz, activity has increased significantly across all anchorages and ports. Heavy clusters around Fujairah, Al Widdiyat, Khor Fakkan and Liwa.
That is all for the time being.......still no word on CMA CGM San Antonio's situation, hopefully there will be soon. Will update again tomorrow.