No Tankers Exit Hormuz as Kaifan Attack Signals Return to Disruption
An attack on the oil products tanker Kaifan on July 21 has reversed a partial reopening, with the strait silent on Friday and ICE Brent front-month at $98.70.
No tanker has been observed exiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday (2026-07-24), according to shipping data, as the waterway handling roughly 20 percent of global oil and LNG shipments returns to near-paralysis. Another oil products tanker, the Kaifan, was attacked inside the strait on Monday (2026-07-21), Rigzone reported, with renewed hostilities once again emptying the corridor. ICE Brent front-month crude stands at $98.70 a barrel as of Friday (2026-07-24), sharply higher than the lows struck on June 24 (2026-06-24), when Brent fell more than $3 to levels not seen since before the Iran war began.7,5
The reversal is steep. Through May and into June, tankers had been threading the strait in small batches, easing a supply backlog that had accumulated over more than two months. On Sunday (2026-05-17) and Monday (2026-05-18), two VLCCs — Agios Fanourios I and Kiara M — each carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude, passed through with transponders switched off, according to shipping data from Kpler and LSEG. A third supertanker, carrying 2 million barrels of Basrah crude and flagged in San Marino, followed without a confirmed discharge destination. Crews disabled AIS tracking to reduce exposure to potential Iranian attack during a period of fragile US-Iran ceasefire.2
Two more supertankers exited on Wednesday (2026-05-20), completing a backlog that had sat in the Gulf for more than two months, LSEG and Kpler data showed. Combined cargo across that batch exceeded 6 million barrels.1
The trickle continued through late May. Two LNG carriers and a supertanker loaded with Iraqi crude transited the strait around May 25 (2026-05-25), with the LNG vessels heading for Pakistan and China, OilPrice.com reported.4
Iranian clearance was not automatic. Seven vessels — including the Serifos, chartered by Thai state energy firm PTT — had sought permission from Tehran to transit, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by LSEG and Kpler data. Each approval was conditional, and the queue of vessels waiting on Iranian permission remained one of the clearest indicators of how fully Tehran retained control of the corridor even under ceasefire.3
By late June, resumed flows had eased supply anxiety enough to move prices sharply. Brent fell more than $3 on June 24 (2026-06-24) to its lowest level since before the war, with US crude futures slipping below $70 a barrel — their weakest print since March 2 (2026-03-02) — as stranded tankers continued to exit, RTE reported.5
Sunday (2026-07-05) offered a brief signal of stabilisation. Six oil and gas freighters were navigating the US-protected corridor near Oman, Rigzone reported, a day after a separate group of vessels performed unexplained U-turns and detours inside the passage.6
The Kaifan attack on Monday (2026-07-21) ended that. Rigzone reported renewed hostilities were emptying the waterway again. Houthi rebels simultaneously threatened to blockade Saudi Arabia's Red Sea access — a second pressure point on regional energy supply routes, adding maritime risk beyond Hormuz itself.7
With the strait silent on Friday (2026-07-24) and ICE Brent front-month at $98.70, attention focuses on the seven Malaysian-sponsored vessels — the Serifos among them — still seeking Iranian clearance to transit. If Tehran withdraws those approvals or stops processing new requests, the supply relief that briefly pushed Brent to pre-war lows in late June will prove a temporary window rather than a lasting reopening of the corridor.3,7,5