Some ships in the Strait of Hormuz are conducting so-called "dark voyages," navigating through the strait with their automatic identification systems switched off while receiving guidance from the U.S. military. Tensions surrounding the critical chokepoint of global energy supply continue to escalate.
Lights Off, Radar Only: U.S. Military Provides Guidance
According to The Wall Street Journal and other reports on Tuesday (local time), very large crude carriers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers loaded with crude oil and LNG have been confirmed to be passing through the Strait of Hormuz at considerable risk in recent weeks.
A "dark voyage" is a navigation method in which a ship turns off its lights and shuts down its automatic identification system (AIS). It is a desperate measure to reduce the likelihood of attack by Iran, which effectively controls the strait. Without AIS, ships cannot detect each other's positions and must rely solely on radar, increasing the risk of collision and making experienced navigators essential.
The U.S. military is supporting such navigation, the WSJ reported. American forces communicate with vessels passing through the strait, advising them on when to turn off their AIS and how to respond to Iranian threats. Concerns are mounting that the longer the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which a significant portion of the world's crude oil flows — continues, the greater the pressure on the global energy supply chain will become.
Toll Disputes and Insurance Bombs Leave Ships Stranded
The issue of passage through the Strait of Hormuz is one of the key agenda items in the ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran. The U.S. position is that, under international law, the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to all as it was before the war, while Iran has repeatedly expressed its intention to maintain military pressure and collect tolls from ships under its claimed "sovereign rights."
The recent Iranian retaliatory strike targeting a U.S. military base in Kuwait, after the U.S. military attacked Iranian military facilities citing threats to merchant ships, is also being interpreted as an extension of this struggle for control. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on the 27th added the Persian Gulf Strait Authority — established by Iran to manage passage through the Strait of Hormuz — to its sanctions list. The move signals U.S. determination to block Iran's unilateral imposition of tolls.
While some ships are managing to pass through the strait via "dark voyages" and other methods, the number is extremely small compared to the more than 100 vessels that crossed daily before the war, the WSJ noted. The burden of insurance premiums is another factor squeezing shipping companies.
Currently, insurance premiums for war-risk zones stand at 2.5 to 4 percent of a ship's value, far above the 0.25 percent charged in peacetime. Vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf are eager to leave the strait as soon as possible, as they bear surging insurance premiums on top of crew wages and war-risk allowances, the outlet added.
