Oil tankers are turning off or reducing their tracking signals for longer periods as they move crude through major chokepoints in the Middle East, according to reports. The practice—often described as “going dark”— is being used to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
The move reflects a continued reliance on tactics developed earlier during heightened tensions around Iran. Bloomberg frames the change as a longer-duration version of methods used in the early stages of the Iran war, while Moneyweb describes it as a “doubling down” on the same earlier playbook. Both accounts connect the shipping behavior to the risks and uncertainty affecting maritime routes in the region.
While the sources agree on the operational change and the routes involved, they do not provide detailed, competing estimates of how long signals are being reduced or which specific vessels are affected. The broader context is that oil shipments remain dependent on navigating routes near potential security threats, prompting operators to alter navigation and communications practices.
