The United States military has overseen scores of secretive ship-to-ship oil transfers to keep Gulf energy exports flowing, using aerial and water drones as well as helicopters in an operation to guide convoys to awaiting tankers.
The operation on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz employs a shuttling techniquelong used by Iran to skirt sanctions.
It started in early May, and at least 116 ships have been involved in the transfers, according to shipping data and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.
As recently as Tuesday morning, 12 pairs of ships could be seen side-by-side in the Gulf of Oman: eight off the coast of Sohar in Oman and four near Fujairah, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. Last week on June 11, when the activity appeared to have peaked, 17 pairs of ships could be seen carrying out simultaneous oil transfers at the two sites, according to images from that day.
An Apache helicopter downed by Iran on June 9, sparking retaliatory bombings by the U.S., was involved in the mission, according to four sources, including a former U.S. official with knowledge of the attack. Using satellite imagery, Reuters counted six pairs of tanker ships clustered together in a small area off the port of Sohar the day the Apache was shot down.
Reuters could not confirm what role the Apache played in the operation. In response to Reuters questions, a U.S. defense official said no Central Command forces are taking part in an offshore ship-to-ship oil transfer operation. Both crew members were rescued by a drone boat, U.S. officials said.
The extent of the ship-to-ship transfers, how they work, and the Apache’s role in the operation have not been previously reported. The White House referred questions to Centcom. The Iranian government did not respond to requests for comment about the transfer operation.
The two spots where these transfers take place, in the Gulf of Oman near the exit of the Strait of Hormuz, are close to the boundaries drawn by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new Iranian body established to manage the Hormuz Strait. Ships that fail to comply with Iran’s orders are at risk of drone and missile attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Fujairah port itself has come under repeated Iranian fire during the time this U.S.-led operation has been underway. This past weekend, according to the British maritime risk management group Vanguard, an “unknown projectile” struck a tanker off the coast of Oman. Vanguard said in a statement that the crew was safe and that the impact caused some leakage of the cargo, but no environmental damage. It did not specify whether the tanker was involved in a ship-to-ship transfer.
Iran responded to the U.S.-Israeli war by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally passes. That created the biggest global energy supply disruption in history and has spurred inflation around the world.
The ship-to-ship transfers, though risky and inefficient, appear to be a part of the Trump administration’s efforts to help restore normal oil flows from the Gulf. U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen Friday under a framework peace deal with Iran announced this week, but details remain vague. Reuters could not determine whether the announced deal had affected the oil transfers.
