Crude oil tankers are increasingly navigating Middle Eastern waters in stealth “dark mode” with transponders switched off, extending their cloaked journeys from hours to over a week as regional maritime security threats deteriorate, according to ship-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg. The tactic, once limited to brief transits through the Strait of Hormuz, has now spread to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait amid rising attacks on energy infrastructure.
Strait of Hormuz Traffic Plummets Amid Security Crises
According to data from ship-tracking firm Kpler cited by the BBC, daily vessel counts passing through the vital chokepoint fell to just eight on Sunday and 11 on Saturday. Before the conflict began, more than 100 ships traversed the strait daily, carrying roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas.
Matthew Wright, an analyst at Kpler, told the BBC that the threat to the trade of crude has reached its worst period since the crisis began. A temporary peace deal struck with the US in early June briefly restored traffic volumes, but renewed strikes have severely curtailed maritime movement once again. Iran has denied claims by Donald Trump that it was in talks with the US over reopening the strait, though officials stated Tehran is speaking with Oman about securing the shipping lane, per BBC reporting.
Dark Mode Tactics Spread to the Red Sea
To evade detection by hostile forces, a growing number of operators are keeping their Automatic Identification System (AIS) positioning systems switched off for consecutive days rather than merely hours. Bloomberg data reveals this covert navigation has migrated from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where Iran-aligned Houthi forces target Saudi-linked ships and cargo.
Saudi vessels moving oil out of Red Sea ports like Yanbu have increasingly resorted to dark mode to protect potential targets from Houthi strikes. This extended cloaking severely obscures market transparency, making it exceptionally difficult for analysts to estimate exact volumes of crude leaving the Middle East for global buyers, according to analysis by Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com.
Case Study: The Disappearance of Romania Prosperity
The practical challenges of monitoring cloaked vessels are highlighted by specific tracking anomalies recorded in recent months. At the end of July, the supertanker Romania Prosperity vanished from marine radars off Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, well outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to Bloomberg data.
The vessel reappeared in the same vicinity 10 days later. Tanker-tracking services and observers remained unable to verify whether the ship retained its original crude cargo during the blackout period, or if it conducted a ship-to-ship oil transfer before returning to the Persian Gulf to load another consignment.
Did you know? Before regional conflicts disrupted transit corridors, about one-fifth of the globe’s petroleum supply moved daily through the narrow waters of the Strait of Hormuz.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are oil tankers turning off their transponders in the Middle East?
Tankers are switching off their AIS transponders—known as going “dark”—to avoid detection by hostile actors and military threats while transiting high-risk chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
How long do tankers stay in dark mode?
While vessels once disabled tracking equipment for only a few hours during an actual crossing, ship-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg shows this practice now extends for several consecutive days or even over a week.
What impact does dark mode shipping have on oil markets?
Extended dark-mode activity hinders accurate tracking of petroleum flows, significantly reducing transparency for market estimates regarding actual oil volumes exiting the Middle East.
Which shipping routes are most affected by these security risks?
The Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea are currently experiencing the most severe disruptions and security threats to crude transport.
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