Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data indicate that multiple tankers abruptly reversed course near the entrance to the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday, following the U.S.-Israeli operation (Operation Epic Fury) targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control infrastructure in multiple Iranian cities.
Bloomberg reporter Stephen Stapczynski pulled data from the Terminal that shows shipowners of crude oil, crude products, and LNG tankers are avoiding the strait, even though the waterway remains open and traffic has not stopped entirely.
“A number of oil and LNG tankers are avoiding sailing through the Strait of Hormuz NYK has advised its ships to avoid the waterway,” Stapczynski wrote on X.
A number of oil and LNG tankers are avoiding sailing through the Strait of HormuzNYK has advised its ships to avoid the waterway pic.twitter.com/oAubwJBjxs
— Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) February 28, 2026
Stapczynski noted.
Very early hours. Lot may change. So far on oil:1) Oil loading continues KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq2) Tankers crossing Hormuz, but a few U-turning3) A single report of explosions at Kharg Island (maybe the small Iranian navy base?)4) OPEC+ meeting Sunday; KSA/UAE surge? pic.twitter.com/8Wyi5KKiI3
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) February 28, 2026
Less than a day before Operation Epic Fury began, Bloomberg macro strategist Michael Ball warned, “US military action on Iran would result in sudden-yet-tradeable risk aversion. The negative markets impulse only sustains if there’s material disruption to regional oil production and shipping flows around the Strait of Hormuz.”
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