A sailor observes the oil tanker HELGA, which is moored at one of Iraq's southern offshore oil terminals near Basra, as it prepares to load crude oil, April 24, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Mohammed Aty
October 2, 2026 By Alex Longley
Oct 2, 2026
(Bloomberg) –The tanker captain summoned his years of experience when he
saw the blast in front of him. He veered his 300-meter-long ship around
the vessel ahead and could see a fire had started. He called the US
Navy to tell them of the attack.
The maneuver in the Strait of Hormuz with drones and missiles overhead is the sort of quick thinking that’s proving vital to getting oil supplies to the global market as Washington and Tehran fail to reach agreement on reopening the waterway to regular traffic.
The account
of the incident, told to Bloomberg by a captain in his early 40s who declined
to be identified while discussing commercially sensitive journeys,
shows how and why those flows from the
Middle East are rising largely under the watch of the US military.
His vessel
is among the ships engaged in shuttle runs through the
strait, ferrying barrels often at night and with strict instructions
about what equipment can be used — no lights, no phones and with only one
radar.
They were
often just a mile from the coast of Oman, though the depth of the sea there is
about 100 meters, more than enough for even the biggest supertankers to sail
through. The captain said he and his crew got their bearings by using the
coast and lighthouses as a reference.
“I’m just
lucky because I still remember the traditional navigation, the old school,” he
said in an interview from the Philippines, his home country where he is now on
vacation after a three-month stint largely shuttling in Hormuz. “They required
no navigational lights. It’s quite challenging.”
The
transits are a lifeline to gulf energy producers and a boon to
shipowners and commodity traders who stand to reap billions of dollars from the
trade. There’s also the prospect of a handsome
payday for
crewmembers willing to brave the crossing.
US banks
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reckon crude
oil flows from
the Middle East are returning toward pre-war levels, propelled by the Hormuz
shipments. JPMorgan estimated daily flows through the Gulf were 17.5
million barrels.
The US has
been quietly coordinating
with shippers since
early summer to plot routes and avoid Iranian mines. American forces “have
assisted thousands of ships through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months by
providing coordinated protection,” US Central Command said in a
statement. “We remain laser-focused and will continue working with
US interagency partners, regional countries, and the shipping industry to
increase the maritime traffic flow.”
The
captain would often be told of the military support that was keeping watch
over him and could see it overhead. On one occasion he saw what he described as
a jet plane flying above them, and also a helicopter.
The radio
silence while crossing Hormuz made his time at sea even more unusual, he
said. The lack of noise on the radio was only punctuated by the chatter of more
people than usual manning the bridge to watch out for attacks.
Another
captain on a liquefied natural gas tanker that has traversed Hormuz
said that the journey begins by shutting the breaker that connects to the
ship’s location transponder, or AIS, to mask their whereabouts as they hug the
Omani coast. Then they begin barricading the main decks with sandbags with the
assumption that they could be attacked by drones or a missile.
These gas
carriers, which are fewer in number than oil tankers, have been more
cautious. But at least eight LNG ships have traversed the strait in the last
two weeks with safety assurances from the US, the captain said.
Iran has
its own blacklist for tankers engaged in the trade. But shipping executives
estimate about a one in 20 chance of being hit while crossing Hormuz, with the
ships under the watch of the US military.
The oil
tanker captain’s most recent contract was a month shorter than usual because he
knew the voyage “is not easy.” He still received a multiple of his usual salary
to transit.
Bloomberg
previously reported that one shipowner was offering its crew an extra six
months of pay to shuttle through Hormuz. The amounts on offer would be
significant for anyone, and much of the world’s tanker crews are from
lower-income countries like the Philippines and India.
With two
million barrels of oil on board, American forces had been watching over the
captain’s tanker, part of a strict monitoring process that requires regular
check-ins.
After he
saw the blast ahead, the captain was told by the US Navy that other
vessels beyond his were managing to continue on their journeys, and that he
should do the same. On another occasion, the captain’s ship was the one that
came under attack, but there was no damage and no injury to the crew. It
was one of many near-misses.
Even when
his transits concluded without incident, the signs of danger in Hormuz were
never far away. “It can happen any time,” the captain said. During the
offloading of cargo to another ship outside Hormuz, he and his crew heard
vessels broadcasting that they were under attack near Hormuz.
Ultimately,
the decision to transit rests with a ship’s captain. As long as they are
willing to cross, then millions of barrels of oil a day will keep hitting
global markets. The International Maritime Organization estimates that 24
seafarers have died in attacks across the region since the war started.
Much of
the time crossing Hormuz is spent talking to the US Navy. The
captain interviewed by Bloomberg said the Americans provide the route
and give ships waypoints to cross throughout the voyage. Vessels report to the
military every 30 minutes to confirm how the passage is going and whether
they’d seen any missiles on their way.
Throughout
his crossings, the captain and his team prepared for the worst. Like on
the LNG ship, they would place sandbags and drums filled with water near
the bridge as a precaution. The oil tanker’s emergency fire pump kept running
for the entirety of the transit and there were always emergency fire hoses at
the ready near the accommodation area.
“Tankers
are always at risk all the time,” the captain said. “It’s a very dangerous
vessel.”
He said
his children had been waiting for his contract to finish and for him
to come home to the Philippines safely. But he says he’s always ready to
go back on board. “My family is quite scared, but I told them that I can handle
the situation,” he said. “I’m very proud. I enjoy my job, actually.”
To contact
the author of this story:
Alex Longley in London at alongley@bloomberg.net
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.Share
