US, Gulf allies conducting daytime transits through Strait of Hormuz: report

The US military and Gulf nations have begun escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in the daytime, the first such escorts since the short-lived Operation Project Freedom in May.

While the US has been protecting ships sailing through the strait in recent months, the escorts were done under the guise of night, with the new transits now taking place in broad daylight, Axios reported.

It remains unclear how many ships have taken up the offer to sail in broad daylight as Iran continues its strikes on vessels in the strait, with the Panama-flagged El Gaia tanker struck on Monday as two of its sailors remain missing.

Oil tankers are reportedly crossing the Strait of Hormuz in broad daylight under US military escorts. Anadolu via Getty Images

Transits through the Strait of Hormuz have shot up in recent weeks under US military protection, with a high of 40 ships crossing the strait in a single day last week, according to multiple reports.

Satellite images confirm that large tankers are safely transiting in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, even during the daytime, according to maritime analyst TankerTracker.com.

The successful transits stand as a stark difference from the escorts of Project Freedom, which lasted less than two days and saw only two US ships cross the strait.

How much oil is actually exiting the strait remains unclear.

The Trump administration claimed up to 17 million barrels of oil has been exiting the waterway daily.

Traffic along the Strait of Hormuz remains a fraction of what it was before the war began. Anadolu via Getty Images

Commercial shipping analysts, however, remain skeptical, noting that such highs are not every day occurrences and putting the actual average flow at less than half.

TankerTrackers’ latest estimate found that the 60-day average of crude flowing out of the strait was closer to 7.85 million barrels a day.

Iran has continued to attack ships attempting to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, with at least 22 seafarers killed in 79 confirmed incidents since the war began, according to the International Maritime Organization.

While Iran has repeatedly claimed the ships hit in recent days have been victims of sea mines, western officials say the vessels were likely hit by Iranian missiles or drones.

The latest uptick in Iranian attacks have also led the US to limit transits through the Strait of Hormuz at specific times, setting up windows of opportunities to the commercial ships, the Financial Times reported.

The distribution of time slots began in September, with availability varying by day, according to internal emails from the US Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping.