Repeated attacks on tankers in the Middle East and Black Sea threaten to reduce available vessel capacity and push up freight and insurance costs, shipbroker Gibson said in a report carried by Hellenic Shipping News. Ships taken out of service for repairs, together with delays for damage assessments, are adding operational difficulties even where damage is relatively limited.
Gibson linked the increase in Middle East attacks to the collapse of talks after the UN General Assembly in late September, interpreting the pattern as renewed escalation by Iran amid stalled diplomacy. The broker also highlighted a reported attack on a very large crude carrier in the Gulf of Oman. It described that area as the main location for transferring Middle Eastern crude onto ships whose operators are unwilling to transit the Strait of Hormuz, making the incident a further source of uncertainty.
Assessing the effect on tanker availability remains difficult, according to Gibson. Some attacks go unreported, while the widespread switching off of automatic identification systems in the region limits visibility over ships’ subsequent movements. Many vessels stayed untraceable after incidents, particularly complicating assessments of those controlled by national oil companies. Nevertheless, there were also indications that numerous ships underwent temporary repairs and resumed service quickly.
Usable tracking information was available for roughly one-third of the attacked vessels, Hellenic Shipping News reported, citing Gibson. That group took an average of two months to load another cargo after an attack, although some ships needed more extensive dry-dock work. In the Black Sea, Suezmax and Aframax tankers targeted over the summer while loading at the CPC terminal and other Russian ports also averaged nearly two months before their next cargo, including an average 25 days at repair yards.
Gibson said attacks on CPC-loading vessels had eased following a US-Ukrainian agreement, but risks to Russian crude shipping remained substantial. The broker warned that continuing tensions could sustain elevated freight rates, with insurance expenses and logistical complications also keeping delivered oil costs higher.