Indian refiners and a global major to shun blacklisted ships for Middle East cargoes

At least three Indian oil refiners and a global energy major plan to stop using vessels on Iran's new blacklist, including for ship-to-ship transfers, due to security concerns, four sources said this week. Tehran announced Sunday a blacklist of 45 ships it said violated rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, threatening action against vessels transferring loads with them. The move escalates tensions six months into the US-Israeli war on Iran and targets shuttle runs by Gulf producers. Iran has previously attacked several tankers, including the Wedyan, Mombasa B and Al Bahyah. Two blacklisted very large crude carriers stopped transmitting location data by Tuesday, while others had transponders off for weeks.