Three empty LNG carriers, originally bound for Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility, turned away late Tuesday as regional tensions spiked. Simultaneously, a fully-laden Indian supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude abandoned its eastward journey off the coast of Oman. These maneuvers reflect a broader defensive pivot by shipowners following Tuesday’s strikes on a Saudi-owned supertanker and a Qatari LNG carrier.
Tanker Traffic Stalls as Hormuz Strait Becomes Contested Zone
At least four oil and LNG tankers abruptly reversed course in the last 12 hours, abandoning transit through the Strait of Hormuz after a series of Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. The sudden shifts in vessel movement signal a sharp collapse in security at the world’s most critical energy chokepoint.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward reported that six additional vessels were forced to shift from the southern to the central corridor, while one LNG carrier anchored mid-transit. The incident halts a recent surge in traffic that had seen producers rushing to export commodities following earlier production shutdowns. With major operators now pausing transit, analysts warn the Strait has transitioned back into a functionally contested zone, threatening the stability of global energy supply lines.
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