Oil is the main channel for this news. A claimed sinking of a fully laden supertanker in the world’s most important crude chokepoint is likely to add to the risk premium in Brent and WTI when markets reopen (futures at 6pm Sunday, US Eastern time), even without independent confirmation. The bigger risk is about behaviour rather than barrels. If shipowners conclude that the US-cleared lanes and covert transits are not safe, Hormuz flows could shrink further, and freight rates and war-risk insurance costs could climb. If the claims are not confirmed, or are shown to be overstated, part of any initial jump could fade quickly, given how many similar Iranian announcements markets have already absorbed.
—
Friday news ICYMI:
—
Iran says its mines have sunk a laden supertanker in the Gulf, a claim no one else has yet confirmed, but its warning to ships using unapproved Hormuz routes is aimed squarely at oil markets and shipowners.
Summary:
- Iran’s IRGC Navy said two tankers with transponders off hit mines on an unauthorised route in the southern Strait of Hormuz.
- It said a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude sank in the southern Gulf, and the second tanker was still on fire.
- Iran’s regular Army Navy described a single tanker hitting a mine and catching fire in a prohibited zone east of the strait.
- Neither account named the vessels or their flags, and there was no independent confirmation.
- A UK maritime monitor was aware of a separate report of a tanker attack in the Gulf, but could not link it to the Iranian claims.
- Iran warned ships against passage without its armed forces’ coordination, and against what it called US-backed covert transits.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that two oil tankers struck naval mines while using what Tehran calls an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz. They said one of them, a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude, sank in the southern Gulf. There was no independent confirmation of either incident.
In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the IRGC Navy said both vessels had their transponders switched off. It said the second tanker was still burning, and warned other ships against what it called US-backed covert passage and deception. The Guards did not disclose the names or flags of the vessels, and there was no information on the crews.
A separate statement from Iran’s regular Army Navy gave a narrower account. It described a single tanker, operating with its navigation systems off in a prohibited zone east of the strait, that hit a mine and caught fire. It said any passage not coordinated with Iran’s armed forces would lead to mine strikes and fires. The two accounts differ on the number of ships, the location and whether a vessel sank, and it is unclear whether they describe the same events.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said it was aware of a report from Indian shipping authorities of an attack on a tanker in the Gulf, but could not say whether it was the same incident.
The claims follow a series of similar announcements from Tehran in recent weeks, often blaming mines for ship fires in the strait. Iran has restricted traffic through the waterway and insists that vessels use routes it has authorised. The US military has said it has cleared mines from the main shipping lanes, and the US has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
If confirmed, the sinking of a fully laden supertanker would be one of the most serious shipping losses of the conflict so far, both for the crude lost and for the signal it sends to shipowners and insurers. Confirmation from shipping monitors, the identity of the vessels and any US response will decide how far the episode escalates.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.