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US boards Iranian tanker while others get through

  • : Freight
  • 26/05/20

US forces boarded a small Iranian oil tanker today that appeared to be attempting to violate the US blockade of Iranian ports, but other larger vessels appear to be successfully evading the blockade.

The Celestial Sea, a short-sea tanker that can hold around 75,000 bl of crude, was boarded by US forces in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday based on suspicion that it was trying to violate the blockade and head for an Iranian port.

"American forces released the vessel after searching and directing the ship's crew to alter course," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.

US president Donald Trump's administration has been adamant that the US imposed blockade — aimed at damaging the Iranian economy by constraining crude exports and production — is a success. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month the blockade that started on 13 April was preventing empty tankers from entering Iranian waters to serve as floating oil storage for domestic production overflowing from onshore storage sites.

But the blockade, which is meant to increase US leverage in peace negotiations, does not appear to be stopping all ships, according to tracking data.

CENTCOM says 91 commercial vessels have been redirected since the start of the blockade, but it has not released data on the number of ships that may have evaded the effort. Vessel tracking data from Vortexa show 111 oil tankers and gas carriers have circumvented the US blockade since its start, with only nine reported interdictions by US forces. In the past week alone, four empty oil tankers have returned to Iranian waters in violation of the blockade, with a combined carrying capacity of around 1mn bl of oil, Vortexa data shows.

The tanker US forces did stop Wednesday is much smaller than the larger vessels that have managed to get through the blockade in recent weeks, according to vessel tracking firm TankerTrackers, carrying about one-tenth the volume of the larger ships.

The blockade has hurt Iranian exports, but crude loading activity continues with ballast vessels able to make it through the blockade.

By Charlotte Bawol

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26/05/19

Iran launches maritime authority, insurance platform

Iran launches maritime authority, insurance platform

London, 19 May (Argus) — Iran has launched a new maritime authority to tighten its control over shipping in and around the strait of Hormuz. It has also introduced an insurance platform to provide cover for Iranian shipping and cargoes transiting the waterway. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) will manage navigation through the waterway, while the "Hormuz Safe" platform will offer "secure digital insurance for maritime cargo" for Iranian vessels transiting it. The PGSA will act as the legal authority representing Iran in managing transit through the strait, according to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency. Vessels intending to transit the waterway will receive rules and regulations from the authority and must obtain a permit to pass, state news agency Press TV said. Ships must comply with this framework. Passage without permission will be considered illegal, Fars reported. Iran claimed control of a broader area of the strait and surrounding waters on 4 May, from the western-most point of Iran's Qeshm Island to Umm al-Quwain on the UAE's west coast, and from Kuh Mobarak in Hormozgan province to southern Fujairah on the UAE's east coast. Separately, the Hormuz Safe platform will provide Iranian shipping companies and cargo owners with "fast, verifiable digital insurance", according to its web page. It will offer cover for cargoes in the Mideast Gulf and surrounding waterways, with payments settled in cryptocurrency. There is no indication that Hormuz Safe policies extend beyond Iranian ships and cargoes. Iran has launched the initiatives as geopolitical tension remains high in the Mideast Gulf. The US and Israel's war with Iran has involved strikes on shipping in and around the strait of Hormuz, pushing up western insurance costs and sharply reducing traffic through the waterway. A ceasefire is now in place, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' tight control of the strait and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports continue to weigh on exports of oil, gas and other commodities from the region. Iran created an official PGSA account on social media platform X on 18 May to provide operational updates and developments related to shipping through the strait. By Leonard Fisher-Matthews Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Phillips 66 moves more crude under Jones Act waiver

26/05/15
26/05/15

Phillips 66 moves more crude under Jones Act waiver

Houston, 15 May (Argus) — US refiner Phillips 66 shipped crude from the US Gulf coast to the US east coast on a foreign-flagged ship in late April, marking at least the second time the refiner has utilized a Jones Act waiver for crude since the start of the waivers in March. The Aframax Front Altair discharged approximately 596,700 bl of West Texas Intermediate crude at the 258,500 b/d Bayway refinery in New Jersey on 13 May after loading it from a terminal in Beaumont, Texas on 29 April. Phillips 66 in early April used a foreign-flagged Panamax vessel to move Bakken crude on the same route taken by the Aframax, the likely first instance of the company utilizing a waiver. US president Donald Trump approved the Jones Act waivers on 17 March, easing domestic shipping requirements for US-US shipments to attempt to offset surging commodity prices caused by the US-Israel war with Iran. His administration has since extended the original 60-day waivers, set to conclude on 17 May, for an additional 90 days terminating on 16 August. The waivers allow shippers to transport crude, natural gas, natural gas liquids, fertilizer, coal and other energy-related products from one US port to another without using US-built, US-crewed and US-flagged ships, as the 1920 Jones Act requires. Demand for refined products shipments via Jones Act waiver deals has outstripped crude demand since the program's inception. Major US refineries are typically pipeline fed when the supply is already domestic, benefiting only in fringe cases where a seaborne shipment can bypass some obstacle in that delivery system or otherwise work out to a cheaper $/bl rate. But places like California and Hawaii, where refinery capacity is low, have demonstrated stronger comparative demand for Jones Act waiver shipments of refined products. This demand is set to rise after international clean tanker rates loading in the US Gulf coast collapsed from mid-April on an influx of displaced Pacific tonnage post-war. The time charter equivalent rate for a US Gulf coast-Caribbean voyage, which represents the return a shipowner might expect per day, dove from an all-time high of $116,300/day on 14 April to -$688/day on 14 May. The latter rate suggests vessel operators might lose money on this voyage at current rates, but that would be less of a loss than allowing the vessel to rack up operating costs while remaining uncontracted. By David Haydon Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US Gulf VLGC rates hit record $305/t on war

26/05/15
26/05/15

US Gulf VLGC rates hit record $305/t on war

London, 15 May (Argus) — US Gulf very large gas carrier (VLGC) freight rates climbed to $305/t on the Houston-Chiba route this week, the highest since Argus began assessments in 2013. Demand has switched to the longer US Gulf-east Asia route to replace lost supply caused by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz. This shift led to a rush of bookings for May-loading cargoes, resulting in higher demand for Panama Canal transit slots and rising costs there. Some VLGCs were redirected on the longer Cape of Good Hope route. The rush of bookings has depleted much of the available tonnage in the US Gulf, but demand for LPG remains high with India and China facing significant shortages because of the lost Mideast Gulf supply. Chartering activity has continued in the US Gulf, but the rush of May bookings has left charterers competing for a rapidly shrinking pool of tankers, pushing the rates up. The Houston-Chiba rate hit $305/t on 13 May, with two fixtures around that level. That is more than double pre-war levels of $147/t, having accelerated through $248/t in late April and $293/t last week. The vessel shortage reflects the much longer journeys, not increased demand for VLGCs, as the loss of Mideast Gulf supply has reduced global product availability. Around half of the 120 VLGCs that loaded in the US Gulf in April were routed via the Cape of Good Hope after Neopanamax slot auction prices hit $1.076mn on 29 April — the highest since May 2024 and roughly four times pre-conflict levels. The longer routing adds more than 20 days to voyage times compared with the Panama Canal passage, occupying vessels for longer and slashing available tonnage ahead of the June loading window. Fixing activity has fallen sharply as a result with charterers securing around 24 spot and time charter bookings from the US Gulf for June to date — around one-third of the 52 fixtures completed in May — with fewer than 20 confirmed by mid-May compared with more than 40 each in the two preceding months. Vessel scarcity is likely to persist. Houston-Chiba rates are being sustained largely by exporters with long-term product contracts in place rather than by spot demand for LPG, with US supply largely unprofitable in Asia-Pacific at the current price and freight rate. Charterers have responded by swapping or delaying shipments and utilising vessels on long-term deals where available, and some traders have re-let vessels rather than use them for exports. The spot market has reached a stand-off, with remaining June cargoes likely to be fixed above the last-done level. The Ras Tanura-Chiba rate also continued to rise on limited options for east of Suez fixtures, reflecting broader vessel scarcity across the market. The underlying demand pull stems from the redirection of Asian LPG buying toward the US Gulf. Global seaborne LPG exports remain around 600,000 b/d below pre-war levels, sustaining the switch toward long-haul US Gulf loadings that has absorbed fleet capacity and compressed June availability. Conditions in the Mideast Gulf remain uncertain and the timeline for any resumption of normal shipping operations is unclear. Further rate gains are possible while June cargoes remain uncovered, although charterer reluctance to engage above current levels may cap any further gains. By Harry Heath Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Iran's Kharg Island loads 1st tanker in a week

26/05/14
26/05/14

Iran's Kharg Island loads 1st tanker in a week

New York, 14 May (Argus) — A tanker loaded crude from Iran's Kharg Island terminal Thursday, countering claims from the US that storage at the country's main oil export hub is full and loadings have stopped. The loading of the roughly 500,000 bl-capacity tanker at Kharg Island would mark the first loading there since 7 May, according to maritime information firm Windward. Earlier on Thursday, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that there have been no loadings of crude from Iran in the past few days, and that the US believes Iran's oil storage is full. "None of the ships are getting out. None are coming in. So, they're not able to store oil on the water," Bessent said. But Iran still maintains significant capacity for storage on the water. Windward estimates that roughly 20 empty tankers are staged nearby to Kharg, with a combined estimated carrying capacity exceeding 25mn bl. "There are still plenty of cargo-empty tankers both inside and outside the blockade perimeter," vessel information firm TankerTrackers.com said on 12 May. And empty vessels continue to arrive at Iranian ports, adding to the country's storage capacity. A total of six empty oil and gas carriers have crossed the strait of Hormuz in violation of the US blockade last week without any reported interdictions, according to data from vessel tracking firm Vortexa. The US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports on 13 April in response to Iran establishing control over the strait of Hormuz after the 28 February start of the US-Iran war. The US' blockade has been successful in significantly curtailing Tehran's oil exports, but it has yet to send Iranian production into the steep decline predicted by US officials. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US blockade yet to cut deep into Iranian production

26/05/14
26/05/14

US blockade yet to cut deep into Iranian production

New York, 14 May (Argus) — The nearly one-month-old US blockade of Iranian ports has been successful in significantly curtailing Tehran's oil exports, but it has yet to send Iranian production into the steep decline predicted by US officials. Prior to the start of the blockade on 13 April, Iran's waterborne crude exports averaged about 1.8mn b/d. But since then Iran has not successfully exported any crude by sea, according to vessel tracking firm TankerTrackers.com, which defines exports as tankers which made it through the blockade line and have not returned with the oil. US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees the Middle East-based US forces, claims that 67 commercial vessels have been redirected since the start of the blockade, 15 vessels supporting humanitarian aid were allowed to pass and four vessels were disabled to ensure compliance. But Vortexa data shows 88 vessels carrying energy commodities have circumvented the US' blockade, with nine reported interdictions by US forces. The impact of the blockade on crude production is less clear, however. US president Donald Trump on 26 April predicted that Iranian oil infrastructure would "just explode from within" in "about three days" because of the blockade, forcing oil well shut-ins. But days later Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohamed Ghalibaf mocked Trump's claim. "Three days in, no well exploded," Ghalibaf wrote on social media. "We could extend to 30 and livestream the well here." Iranian crude production in April fell by 130,000 b/d from the prior month to 2.95mn b/d, according to Argus estimates, but that decrease is among the lowest for Gulf producers . The modest April decline reflects both the mid-month start to the blockade and the ample available storage capacity onshore and offshore for Iran. As of the last week of April, Kpler assessed Iran's onshore usable storage at around 39mn bl, and available floating storage of about 4mn bl, giving it just over a month before having to shut in supply at current production levels — although it could make pre-emptive cuts before then. Vortexa put Iran's available onshore storage capacity at a little below 40mn bl, but highlighted a significant number of empty tankers which it said could be enough to sustain production at then-current levels for up to two months. But Consultancy FGE put Iran's available onshore crude storage capacity at nearly double those figures — at around 80mn bl — implying that Iran would be able to produce at current levels for a little over two months. US officials have repeatedly emphasized the dire economic impact the blockade ports is having on Iran. "The economic pressure that creates on them greatly outstrips the pressure on us," US defense secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate panel on 12 May. But Iran has shown little outward signs that it is ready to capitulate. The two sides have not returned to face-to-face meetings in weeks, and Iran characterized its most recent offer as "reasonable" and "generous" after Trump labeled it "totally unacceptable." By Charlotte Bawol and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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