In this What The Hormuz edition of What's Going on With Shipping, Sal Mercogliano breaks down the escalating reality of the 2026 Tanker War in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, responding directly to claims that commercial vessels are simply "sailing on" through drone and missile strikes.
Using the latest maritime data, satellite tracking, and intelligence reports, we examine what is really happening to global shipping lanes, crude carriers, and refined product markets.
Key Topics Covered in This Episode:
⚓The Reality of Tanker Attacks: Analyzing the strike on MV Cape Dao, crew casualties, and why commercial vessels are taking serious damage in the southern transit corridor.
⚓UKMTO & CENTCOM Data: Breaking down weekly transit figures, naval escort numbers, and why traffic remains roughly 75% below pre-conflict levels.
⚓Skyrocketing Charter Rates: How VLCC rates surged past $1.2 million per day on Persian Gulf to China routes, and why clean product tankers are seeing massive rate spikes.
⚓Global Fuel & Diesel Implications: The impact of proposed U.S. diesel export restrictions, refinery constraints, and rising global shortages.
⚓Seized Iranian Tankers: The status of interdicted tankers transporting crude to the U.S. and the legal and operational complications ahead.
⚓Depleting Global Oil Reserves: Why declining onshore storage and the post-February supply gap are driving market volatility.
At 25m~ in he links this graph showing global on-shore oil inventories across years. Oof:
