Middle East Oil Exporters Escort Tankers to Bypass Iranian Attacks

Middle Eastern oil producers, supported by the United States Navy, have implemented covert maritime tactics to export crude through the Strait of Hormuz, bypassing Iranian drone threats amidst ongoing regional conflict as of August 2026.

National oil companies from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are chartering tankers to disable their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders. Escorted by military forces, these vessels conduct dark transits across the narrow 23-mile waterway.

Once reaching the Gulf of Oman, the tankers perform ship-to-ship transfers to deliver crude to customer-owned vessels bound for Asian markets, including China, South Korea, and Vietnam. The strategy transfers physical and financial risks away from commercial shippers.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, crude traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has averaged between 8 million and 9 million barrels per day under this arrangement. The volume doubles estimates calculated solely from public transponder tracking.

Ship-tracking firm Kpler reported that roughly 80 percent of traffic through the strait over recent weeks has operated without active transponders, hugging the Omani coast. However, radar tracking and regional GPS jamming continue to pose logistical challenges.

Data from Kpler also indicated that visible commodity shipping through the strait fluctuated sharply, with only seven vessels sailing through the waterway on August 20, down from fourteen the previous day. None of those visible ships were supertankers.

To further reduce dependence on the narrow passage, Saudi Arabia has redirected approximately 5 million barrels per day through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Other regional producers have rerouted an additional 2 million barrels daily.