Two hundred big oil tankers that travel all around the world are stuck in the Middle East Gulf.
This is because nobody is allowed to move their ships through the Strait of Hormuz now. This has caused a lot of problems for people who buy and sell oil. The people who own these ships and the people who rent them are very confused about what to do
Most of these tankers are just sitting there either parked at a terminal or moving very slowly waiting to see if things get better in the area. The problem is especially bad for the large crude carriers, which are the biggest kind of oil tanker. There are sixty of these tankers stuck in the Gulf. Thirteen of them are at terminals thirty-three are just sitting at anchor. Fourteen are moving very slowly. These sixty tankers are a part of the total number of tankers that can carry oil.
There are also kinds of tankers that are stuck. For example there are twenty-three suezmax tankers in the Gulf and five of them are at terminals. The rest are either at anchor or moving slowly. Smaller tankers are having problems. There are thirty aframax tankers in the area and eight of them are at terminals. There are also sixty-four medium-range tankers and twenty-two long-range tankers.
Normally the Strait of Hormuz is an important place for oil to be transported. Twenty percent of the worlds oil goes through this strait.. Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 hardly any tankers have been able to go through. Some tankers have even been hit by projectiles, which has made owners very scared to try to go. According to Vortexa the number of tankers going through the strait dropped from twenty-four per day to four on March 1. Most of these tankers were from Iran. It is also very hard to track the ships because of signal jamming and AIS disruptions.
Things got even worse on Monday when an Iranian commander said that the strait was closed and that any ship that tried to go through would be set on fire. Now tankers are stuck in the Gulf. Cannot leave and new tankers cannot come in. This is causing a lot of problems for people who rent tankers. They are expecting things to get even worse.
Some companies are having a lot of trouble because they have many tankers stuck in the Gulf. For example South Koreas Sinokor has six tankers stuck, which is the most of any company. Sinokor recently bought a lot of tankers from European owners, which has made them more visible but also more vulnerable to problems. Other big companies like Japans Mitsui OSK and Saudi Arabias BAHRI also have tankers stuck in the Gulf.
Even companies from countries are having problems. For example Greek companies like Dynacom Tankers Management and Polembros Shipping have three tankers each stuck in the area. This shows that the problem is affecting people around the world.
The Strait of Hormuz is basically. Things are getting worse, in the Gulf. This means that the oil market is very uncertain and people who buy and sell oil are having a lot of trouble. The crisis is still going on. Nobody knows what will happen next.