Hormuz Tanker Traffic Collapses Amid Tightened US Blockade
A tightened U.S. naval blockade has forced sanctioned Iranian LPG tankers to reverse course, collapsing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and stalling Middle East energy flows.
U.S. forces have tightened a naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, forcing sanctioned Iranian liquefied petroleum gas carriers to abort their voyages. Vessel-tracking data shows the LPG tankers Glendale and Danuta I made abrupt U-turns and zig-zagged in the Arabian Sea after clearing the Strait of Hormuz.
The interdictions follow Washington's decision to reinstate the blockade earlier this week after a fragile ceasefire collapsed. The cycle of escalation began with Iranian strikes on commercial vessels, including oil and LNG tankers, which prompted six consecutive nights of U.S. military strikes on Iran. On Thursday, U.S. forces broadened the blockade's scope by disabling an Iran-linked oil tanker near Kharg Island, the country's key export terminal deep in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. Central Command reported late Thursday that forces had redirected three commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade. Troops disabled one ship for non-compliance and boarded another to enforce the mandate. “The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America’s steel wall blockade,” CENTCOM stated.
Despite official assurances of free passage for compliant shipping, the military escalation has effectively paralyzed commercial traffic at the world's most critical oil chokepoint. Tanker volumes moving through the Strait of Hormuz have collapsed to a two-month low. Current traffic levels have reverted to the depressed numbers seen before the recent U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, wiping out the temporary recovery in transit volumes.
The traffic freeze reflects a broader stalling of energy flows out of the Middle East. Tanker owners and operators are now refusing to transit the strait in either direction due to fears of Iranian reprisals against commercial ships. The regional threat alert for shipping was raised again to “severe.”
The physical disruption removes significant LPG and crude oil volumes from the immediate supply chain, creating a tangible squeeze on regional energy logistics. With commercial operators unwilling to risk the transit and the U.S. military actively intercepting sanctioned vessels, the strait is functionally constrained. This sudden tightening of Middle East exports poses immediate upside risks to global oil and gas prices as the market prices in prolonged supply disruptions.
