By Lori Ann LaRocco – Recent tracking data reveals the ongoing activities of Iranian "dark vessels" and other ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, Greek-affiliated ships are now surpassing the number of vessels passing through the Strait alongside the Iranian shadow fleet.

“The Greek vessels are currently loaded with oil from the Middle East Gulf and are heading towards the Strait of Hormuz,” said Bridget Diakun, a Senior Risk and Compliance Analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence. “This situation is crucial because if these ships manage to pass through without any issues, it might encourage other ship owners and operators to reconsider their decisions and take the risk of traveling through. However, this largely depends on how events unfold and how long they have to wait.”

Additionally, there are other vessels linked to the UAE and a few from China.

“There’s a lot of speculation that China gets a free pass to traverse the Strait of Hormuz,” Diakun noted. “However, the data doesn’t clearly support this.”

Diakun also mentioned that Iranian loadings are ongoing, with the movements of the sanctioned ships in the shadow fleet showing the extra precautions being taken.

“Beyond turning off their AIS, we observed a sanctioned container ship that was trying to enter the Gulf. It ended up drifting for three or four days before completing its passage,” she explained.

Lloyd’s List defines a properly confirmed dark vessel as one that has an official AIS status, both online and offline.

At the beginning of the crisis, Lloyd’s List reported that between 40 and 50 ships went offline, primarily in the Middle East Gulf and some at regional ports. Diakun anticipates that these figures will be adjusted upward in the coming days.

So far, Lloyd’s has tracked nine dark transits, with about 80 percent of those being classified as dark transits.