How energy tankers are using a shadow fleet ploy to slip out of Hormuz

📌 Summary:

• Energy tankers are increasingly "going dark" — switching off AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders to become invisible — to transit the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia conflict
• This tactic, once limited to "shadow fleets" carrying sanctioned Iranian/Russian oil, has now spread to mainstream non-Iranian operators as a commercial response to conflict risk
• Before the war (began Feb 28), Hormuz carried a fifth of global oil and LNG flows; traffic has since fallen to a trickle amid threats and attacks on merchant vessels
• India's exposure: over 40% of oil imports, 60% of LNG imports and 90% of LPG imports pass through Hormuz — example: LNG tanker Al Hamra went dark for days before reaching Gujarat's Dahej (May 26)
• Data (Vortexa): dark transits were 57% of all Hormuz transits (March-May); outbound laden dark transits rose from 58.5% (March) to 65.2% (May)
• Danger: IMO rules require AIS on at all times (except for safety/security); switching it off makes vessels untrackable, sharply raising collision risk in a crowded chokepoint

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (energy security, maritime security, chokepoints) and GS2 (West Asia conflict implications for India)

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea; carried ~20% of global oil/LNG before the war
• AIS = Automatic Identification System; IMO = International Maritime Organization sets AIS rules
• India: ~40% oil, ~60% LNG, ~90% LPG imports via Hormuz

🔑 Key Term: Dark shipping ("going dark") — vessels turning off AIS transponders to evade detection, common among sanctions-evading shadow fleets.