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.
Three laden oil supertankers, with a combined transport capacity of 6 million barrels, emitted signals as they were sailing through the channel on Saturday via a route that hugs Oman’s coast, ship-tracking shows. One of them subsequently resumed sending automated signals early on Sunday after it had reached the Gulf of Oman.
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 Satuday.
An email to the ships’ manager wasn’t immediately returned.
If all three clear the waterway, their movements would support the US military’s assertion that it can successfully defend the southern route near Oman’s coast, despite Iran claiming it can control the waterway. A handful of vessels were also seen entering the Persian Gulf using the same route.
