Saudi Oil Loadings Surge Seven-Fold Amid Strait of Hormuz Traffic Mystery

Saudi Arabia's oil loadings have surged 'seven-fold' from its eastern coast, according to TankerTrackers.com, despite a significant decrease in visible vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping intelligence firm TankerTrackers says that many vessels carrying valuable cargo in the Middle East are deliberately switching off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, making conventional vessel tracking increasingly unreliable.

The observation comes as Saudi Arabia has sharply increased crude shipments from Gulf terminals after an attack disrupted its alternative export route through the Red Sea. Reuters reported on Wednesday that three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from four a day earlier and well below the 10-day moving average of about 15.

TankerTrackers uses satellite imagery to identify vessels operating with their transponders switched off. Its latest observation suggests that the extremely low number of publicly visible crossings may understate actual oil movements.