Oil tankers steer clear of Hormuz ahead of US blockade

By Florence Tan and Jonathan Saul

SINGAPORE/LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – Two Iranian-linked tankers exited the Gulf on Monday as other vessels began avoiding the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. said it would start blockading Iranian ports later in the day, unsettling shipping markets at a vital energy chokepoint, shipping data showed.

The move followed the collapse of weekend talks between Washington and Tehran, prompting President Donald Trump https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump/ to say on Sunday the U.S. Navy would enforce a blockade nL1N40U07M targeting vessels entering and leaving Iranian ports, even as Washington stressed it would not restrict transit through the strait itself.

Trump’s announcement effectively slowed oil tanker movements in the strait, with just two Iranian-linked tankers nL1N40W09N leaving the Gulf. In normal trading conditions, crude and products loaded from Iranian ports are typically headed for China, with India a recent buyer of Iranian crude.

The tanker Auroura is laden with Iranian oil products while the New Future vessel is carrying diesel loaded from the Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates and is heading to Sohar, Oman, Kpler and LSEG data showed. Both are medium-range tankers carrying about 330,000 barrels of oil.

U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces would begin implementing the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday.

It would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” it said in a statement on X.

U.S. forces would not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports, and additional information would be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade, it said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards nS8N40E024 said on Sunday that any military vessels attempting to approach the Strait of Hormuz would be considered a violation of the ceasefire and be dealt with harshly and decisively.

PAKISTANI TANKERS HEADED INTO GULF

Prior to Trump’s announcement, Pakistan-flagged tankers Shalamar and Khairpur entered the Gulf on Sunday, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The Aframax tanker Shalamar is heading to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to load Das crude, the data showed, while the Panamax-sized Khairpur is heading to Kuwait to load refined products, according to the data.

Pakistan National Shipping, which manages Shalamar, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of office hours.

Liberia-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Mombasa B, which also transited the strait earlier on Sunday, is sailing empty in the Gulf and heading to Basra, Iraq, according to the data.

Malta-flagged VLCC Agios Fanourios I, which attempted to enter the Gulf on Sunday to load Iraqi Basra crude for Vietnam, has since turned back and is anchored near the Gulf of Oman, the data showed. The tanker plans to head to Iraq.

Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, which manages Agios Fanourios I, did not respond to a request for comment.

CMB.TECH NV, listed in LSEG data as the manager of the Mombasa B said it no longer manages the ship. The current manager Sinokor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite the stalemate, three supertankers nL1N40U04R fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed. They appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the ceasefire deal was struck last week.

(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Jonathan Saul in London and Ariba Shaid in Islambad; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Louise Heavens)