Hormuz Tracker: Iraq-Linked Oil Tanker Exits Hormuz Via Iran
(Bloomberg) -- A Suezmax oil tanker hauling about 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude exited the Persian Gulf via a northerly route through Iranian waters on Sunday morning, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Ocean Thunder crossed the Strait of Hormuz after Iran exempted its “brotherly” neighbor from shipping restrictions a day earlier.
Transits through the critical waterway have been picking up in the past week, with data on Saturday showing the highest seven-day rolling average since the war began. Yet traffic remains at a trickle compared with prewar numbers.
It’s not yet clear whether the dispensation for Baghdad will apply to all ships calling at Iraqi ports, or how it will be enforced. At its broadest, the exemption could free up about 3 million barrels a day of oil exports from the country and allow it to restart production from shuttered fields — as long as shippers are willing to send their tankers into the Gulf.
A total of 16 ships have crossed the strait since Saturday morning, with 11 exiting the Gulf and five entering from the open seas, vessel-tracking data show. In normal times, about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait every day.
Iran has moved to tighten its control over the waterway, setting up a tolling system and directing most vessels to take a specific route close to its border. In the past day, all recorded transits of large ships went through that narrow northern passage, situated between the Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm.
The most significant recent crossing is that of the Ocean Thunder, a vessel managed by Turkey-based Onn Denizcilik ve Danismanlik, according to the Equasis maritime database.
Tanker-tracking is hampered by electronic interference with ships’ signals, and some vessels disable their AIS transponders in high-risk waters, further reducing the timeliness and reliability of tracking data.
Outbound Transits
Five bulk carriers and three oil-product tankers exited the Persian Gulf on Saturday, with two oil tankers and a liquefied petroleum gas carrier following on Sunday morning. Four of the bulkers came from Iranian ports, with two signaling that they’d been delivering food.
The Ocean Thunder passed through Iran’s “toll booth” between the Qeshm and Larak islands. The products carrier Ratta followed the same route after leaving the Saudi port of Al Jubail, tracking data show. The LPG carrier Green Asha was also observed making the outbound crossing on Sunday, heading for India.
In addition, two very small Indian cargo ships have been noted leaving the Gulf, hugging the coast of Oman. Neither vessel has an IMO number and they are not included in the transit count.
With vessels “going dark” in high-risk waters, transit counts may initially appear lower and may be revised upward as delayed data becomes available.
Inbound Transits
One chemicals tanker, one LPG tanker, two bulk carriers and a container ship entered the Gulf on Saturday. The chemicals tanker, one bulker and the container ship are linked to Iran and sanctioned by the US.
The Iran-linked bulker and container ship headed for the port of Bandar Abbas at the top of the Strait of Hormuz, while the other three vessels all entered the Gulf along the Iranian route.
NOTES:
Because vessels can move without transmitting their location until they’re well away from Hormuz, automated positioning signals were compiled over a large area covering the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea to detect those that may have departed or entered the Persian Gulf.
When potential transits are identified, signal histories are examined to determine whether the movement appears genuine or is the result of spoofing — where electronic interference can falsify the apparent position of a ship.
Some transits may not have been detected if vessels’ transponders haven’t been switched back on. Iran-linked oil tankers often steam from the Persian Gulf without broadcasting signals until they reach the Strait of Malacca about 10 days after passing Fujairah in the UAE. Other ships may be adopting similar tactics and won’t show up on tracking screens for many days.
This tracker will be published during heightened tensions involving Iran, and aims to capture traffic for all classes of commercial shipping.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
