There are 728 tankers sitting in the Arabian Gulf right now, and every one of them has to pass through the Strait of Hormuz to get out. AXSMarine's live fleet tracker recorded that count as tensions around the strait flared again. If you move cargo through the Gulf, book bunkers, or price contracts that touch Middle East fuel, that number is your early warning. Tanker congestion at a chokepoint moves bunker prices and war-risk insurance first, and container and breakbulk rates second.
What Happened
AXSMarine's tracker counted 728 tankers inside the Arabian Gulf following the renewed escalation around the Strait of Hormuz. Crude tankers made up 179 of them, or 24.6% of the total. Inside that crude segment, VLCCs were the dominant class at 123 vessels, which is 68.7% of crude tanker activity in the region.
The remaining 549 vessels are product, chemical and smaller tanker classes. The mix matters. A VLCC carries roughly 2 million barrels, so 123 of them parked behind a single 21-mile-wide waterway is a large volume of crude with one exit. Around a fifth of global oil consumption normally passes through Hormuz, and there is no pipeline capacity that replaces it at scale.
Impact on Freight Rates and Operations
You will feel this through three channels. War-risk insurance premiums for Gulf transits reprice within days of an escalation, not weeks, and those surcharges get passed down the chain. Bunker prices follow crude, so any sustained disruption at Hormuz lifts the fuel component of your ocean freight cost regardless of what you ship.
The third channel is capacity. When tankers slow down, hold position or wait for convoy windows, effective fleet supply tightens and charter rates climb. Container lines calling at Jebel Ali, Dammam, Bandar Abbas and other Gulf ports have historically responded to strait tension with emergency risk surcharges and, in the worst periods, omitted calls. Watch for surcharge announcements before you see base rate moves. That is usually the first bill that lands on your desk.
What Shippers Should Do
- Check your Incoterms and insurance now, not after the surcharge. If you are buying on CIF, confirm whether war-risk cover is included or excluded for Gulf transits. On FOB terms, that exposure is yours.
- Lock bunker-linked clauses where you can. Ask your forwarder whether your rate is fixed all-in or subject to a floating BAF. A floating BAF on a Gulf lane is the line item most likely to jump this quarter.
- Build 7 to 14 days of buffer into Gulf-origin and Gulf-transit bookings. Convoy waits and port congestion add transit time before any headline confirms a closure.
- Reprice LCL against FCL on affected lanes. When surcharges are applied per container rather than per CBM, the crossover point between LCL and FCL shifts, sometimes by several cubic metres.
Key Takeaway
With 728 tankers and 123 VLCCs bottled behind one chokepoint, your next Gulf freight invoice is more likely to move on insurance and bunker surcharges than on base rates.
Plan Your Shipment: Use our free CBM Calculator, Container Load Calculator, and LCL vs FCL Calculator to plan your next shipment.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News