Iran Expands Threats Against Shipping to P&I and Class Societies
Iran’s so-called Persian Gulf Strait Authority released its second update to its blacklist of shipping while also expanding its past threats to include insurance companies, P&I, and class societies. There’s little evidence that the shipping industry is following these edicts, but confirmed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at low levels, more likely due to the persistent attacks.
The group, which asserts that it controls transits of the Strait, published online its updated list of ships, which it calls “non-compliant.” It includes the obvious targets, such as vessels operated by Saudi Arabia’s Bahri and the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company. Mostly it focuses on crude oil tankers, but ranges to include LPG, LNG, product tankers, and even bulkers.
The list, which started out with 45 vessels at the end of August, has now been increased to 77 vessels identified by name and IMO registration number. The latest iteration adds 21 vessels. In the past, they asserted that some of the information was “voluntarily submitted by the public.” It has also included the tankers that were being used for shuttle operations and ship-to-ship transfers outside the Persian Gulf.
It has warned shipowners and operators not to be involved with any of the listed vessels. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority has threatened fines, detention, or confiscation if they attempt to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest pronouncement, however, expands the threats. “Insurance companies, P&I clubs, and classification societies are warned to refrain from providing services to these vessels to avoid consequences arising from dealing with them,” the group writes without saying what it might do to violators.
Tracking data shows, however, that vessel transits of the Strait of Hormuz have been “well below the 10-day average,” reports Reuters, citing preliminary tracking data. It reports that over the weekend, transits fell to “a single digit per day,” this weekend saying that only one LPG carrier and one laden Supermax tanker exited on Saturday and Sunday.
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Oil markets and shipping companies, however, remain on edge after the continued attacks from both the United States and Iran and news that a conference of the Gulf states with Iran was called off. The Brent crude benchmark reached $106, while a U.S. crude oil contract opened at $104 but slipped back to just under $102 per barrel during the day on Monday.
Donald Trump, however, took to social media on Monday asserting, “Oil is flowing through the Hormuz Strait.” In another posting, he asserted that “Oil was higher under Biden than it is right now,” and in a third that “Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage.”
