Tankers U-turn, zig-zag, pause around Hormuz

Singapore/London: At least two supertankers made U-turns near the Strait of Hormuz following US military strikes on Iran, shiptracking data shows, as more than a week of violence in the region prompts vessels to speed, pause, or alter their journeys.

Washington's decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran has stoked fears that Iran could retaliate by closing the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows. That has spurred forecasts of oil surging to $100 a barrel. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude hit fresh five-month highs on Monday in choppy trade as investors weighed the potential risks to supply.

Shipping rates for supertankers, which can carry 2 million barrels of oil, have also soared, more than doubling in a week to over $60,000 a day, freight data shows.

The Coswisdom Lake, a very large crude carrier supertanker, reached the strait on Sunday before making a U-turn and heading south, Kpler and LSEG data showed. On Monday it turned back again, resuming its journey towards the port of Zirku in the United Arab Emirates.

The South Loyalty, also a VLCC, made a similar U-turn and remained outside the strait on Monday, LSEG data showed.

It was scheduled to load crude from Iraq's Basra terminal, according to Kpler data and two shipping sources.

The Coswisdom Lake was scheduled to load crude at Zirku for delivery to China. It was chartered by Unipec, a trading arm of China's state-run Sinopec

Singapore-based Sentosa Shipbrokers said that over the past week, empty tankers entering the Gulf are down 32% while loaded tanker departures are down 27% from early May levels.