US cuts air‑defence coverage for tankers near Strait of Hormuz to two daily windows amid rising night attacks
The United States has scaled back its air‑based defence support for commercial tankers on a route near Oman’s coast, reducing cover to two time slots per day after a rise in night‑time attacks on ships, according to maritime guidance cited by the Financial Times.
Oil tankers using a key route near the Strait of Hormuz now receive US air‑defence cover only during two fixed periods each day, a notable tightening of protection in waters where attacks on ships at night have been increasing.
The Financial Times, citing updated maritime guidance, reported that Washington has been providing air‑based defence for vessels travelling along a path close to Oman’s coast, designed to keep shipping further from Iranian shores. In early September, that protective umbrella was reduced to two daily time slots.
The change doesn’t remove US naval and air assets from the region. American forces remain active in the Gulf and around Hormuz. What it does is narrow the windows when commercial captains can count on coordinated US air support as they transit.
For shipowners, crews and insurers, the narrower schedule creates sharper trade‑offs. Operators must decide whether to time transits to coincide with US cover, accept higher risk outside those windows, or consider longer detours that bypass Hormuz altogether.
The shift comes as security incidents in the broader Gulf energy system mount. Drone attacks from Iraqi territory forced Saudi Arabia to halt flows on its East–West oil pipeline, and Iraqi authorities closed the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran as a precaution after those strikes. Both Baghdad and Riyadh have linked the attacks to Iran‑backed armed groups.
Together, a more limited US protection regime at sea, drone strikes on inland pipelines, and tighter border controls around Iran feed a picture of rising uncertainty for energy flows in and around the Gulf.
Signals to watch include whether Washington publicly explains or adjusts its guidance on protection windows, whether regional navies increase their own escort efforts, and whether tanker traffic patterns change, for example by bunching more sailings into the remaining US‑covered slots or rerouting away from Hormuz.
Sources
- OSINT