Middle East Oil Tankers Are Staying in Dark Mode Longer

According to Oilprice.com, in a report published Friday, August 14, 2026 (23 Mordad 1405), a growing number of tankers are switching off their AIS positioning systems at the Middle East's two key chokepoints, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el Mandeb Strait, with the length of this dark mode activity stretching from a few hours to a week or more. According to ship tracking data monitored by Bloomberg, the supertanker Romania Prosperity disappeared from radar near Fujairah in late July and reappeared 10 days later, with trackers unable to confirm whether it still carried the same cargo or had transferred it to another vessel.

The report added that Saudi ships moving oil out of the Red Sea port of Yanbu through Bab el Mandeb have also adopted dark mode, amid Houthi attacks on Saudi linked vessels. The trend has made it significantly harder for the market to track how much oil is actually leaving the Middle East.