No shipment of Iranian crude oil has passed through the strait since August, according to tanker-tracking data. The development was confirmed by U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper on 19 September, pointing to a disruption along a key route for Tehran’s oil exports.
Limited activity on Kharg Island
Images captured by four different satellites showed only two tankers at Kharg Island’s berths on 14 and 29 August. The island is a major hub for Iran’s seaborne oil exports.
Empty tankers off Sri Lanka
In the opposite direction, 27 empty Iranian tankers have piled up off Sri Lanka’s coast, waiting to return to the Gulf, while loaded tankers remain inside it. This is disrupting the Iranian fleet’s movements in both outbound and return directions and limiting the use of tankers for floating storage.
