Middle East Gulf Anchored by Hundreds of Shipments

Hundreds of ships have dropped anchor in the Middle East Gulf, data from ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic shows. The vessels were clustered in open waters off the coasts of major oil producers, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as liquefied natural gas giant Qatar.

The tankers were stationary within exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of key Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. An EEZ extends up to 24 miles beyond local territorial limits of 12 nautical miles.

About 20% of global oil passes through the Hormuz Strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. The strait is a critical chokepoint for crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments from producers like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, and Iran.

The data also shows that dozens of cargo ships were clustered across various EEZs. At least another 100 tankers were anchored outside of the strait, along the UAE and Omani coasts and anchorage points.