US issues warning to commercial ships amid Middle East flare up

The US Department of Transportation’s (DoT) Maritime Administration has issued a strong warning to US-flagged commercial vessels to steer clear of the Strait of Hormuz as geopolitical risks continue to weigh on the region.

IMAGE: The US CENTCOM has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln in the region. US CENTCOM

The DoT has recommended vessels to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Arabian Sea as US military operations and “potential retaliatory strikes by Iranian forces,” could severely damage them.

“Any U.S.-flagged, owned, or crewed commercial vessels that are operating in these areas should maintain a standoff of 30 nautical miles from U.S. military vessels to reduce the risk of being mistaken as a threat,” the US DoT said.

Since the beginning of cross-border firing, more than 200 vessels including oil and LNG tankers, have dropped anchorage around the Hormuz Strait – marking a significant escalation in risks to commercial maritime operations, Reuters reported.

The European Union's maritime mission Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Aspides has warned mariners of potential attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants, targeting Israeli and US-flagged ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Yesterday, a Palau-flagged oil tanker under US sanctions was hit by an Iranian missile off Oman's Musandam peninsula, Reuters reported.

The Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker MKD VYOM was struck by a projectile off Oman’s coast while sailing with cargo, while another oil bunkering tanker was also hit by a missile off the coast of the UAE, the report added.

Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian military has shut the Strait of Hormuz for commercial ships. Some 20% of global oil and large volumes of LNG pass through Hormuz strait, according to market analysts.

Vessels have been receiving VHF transmission from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) stating, “no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz,” an EUNAVFOR Aspides official said, according to Reuters.

“This [Hormuz] is a key choke point for global energy markets, with 20m b/d [20 million b/d] of oil and more than a 100bcm [100 cbm] of LNG per year moving through it, which is around 20% of global LNG trade,” remarked ING Bank’s head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson.

The strategic waterway serves as one of the world’s crucial oil export corridors, linking major Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the UAE, to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

“It would be difficult to enforce a closure and any attempts to do so would likely see a strong response from the US,” Patterson said.

Commercial vessels are becoming “increasingly reluctant” to use the strait due to the impending risks. “The longer this reluctance persists, the more of an impact it will have on oil and gas markets,” Patterson added.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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