Iran has resumed loading crude at Kharg Island’s western terminal after a 25-day shutdown, as the country expands alternative maritime routes to offset the impact of the Strait of Hormuz blockade, according to maritime intelligence companies.
Windward, a maritime AI company delivering operational intelligence, said the oil terminal was reactivated on August 12. Satellite imagery showed a dark, very large crude carrier (VLCC) berthed and loading for the first time since July 18. The 333-metre tanker had been waiting offshore since July 11 before moving to the berth.
The eastern oil terminal and the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility remained empty, while the offshore waiting area still held 16 to 17 tankers, Windward said. The tanker remained alongside, and loading in imagery collected the following day.
“Iran isn't waiting for the blockade to lift. It’s rerouting around it,” Winward said in a post on X on Sunday.
TankerTrackers.com, a maritime intelligence company specialising in tracking crude shipments and dark-fleet tankers, separately said on Friday a National Iranian Tanker Company VLCC was loading about two million barrels of crude at the Azarpad jetty on Kharg Island. It described the loading as the first observed at the island since late July.
Although this is the first loading noted on the island since the end last month, Iran has continued loading tankers at other terminals, TankerTrackers.com said.
The latest activity also illustrates a divergence between crude and gas flows from Kharg Island. While crude exports from the terminal remain strong, LNG exports have fallen, according to TankerTrackers.com. “The island produces crude oil, but gas comes up with it and when not enough gas is being shipped out, it gets burnt off instead,” it said in a post on X.
It added that Iran’s oil production appears to be roughly in line with refinery runs, or domestic consumption, meaning the country may not need to export as much crude.
The limited restart at Kharg comes as Iran develops other channels for moving oil and cargo. At North Larak anchorage, seven additional tanker and cargo hulls were recorded over two days, lifting the total to 35 on August 12, from 28 on August 10. Dark vessels accounted for about 74 per cent of the cluster, while 10 sanctioned vessels were identified, according to Windward.
Iran is also relying more heavily on the Caspian Sea. Russia-to-Iran wet-cargo movements increased 2.9 times to 23 shipments in the 164 days following the February 28 blockade, from eight shipments during the comparable earlier period, Windward data shows. Volumes rose from 174,100 barrels to about 437,000 barrels.
The data suggests a broader shift in Tehran’s maritime strategy: rather than waiting for restrictions to ease, Iran is redirecting cargo through alternative anchorage and inland-connected routes.
The latest development shows that the Strait of Hormuz blockade has severely disrupted Iran’s main oil-export artery, but has not completely stopped crude from being loaded or moved through alternative channels.
Kharg Island, where US forces in March destroyed military targets, handles about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, making even a single VLCC loading an important signal – though not proof that normal exports have resumed, Reuters reported.
The island, which sits 26km from Iran's coast, about 483km north-west of the Strait of Hormuz, has storage capacity of about 30 million barrels, and held about 18 million barrels of crude in early March, according to a JP Morgan report citing Kpler data. Much of the oil shipped from Iran through Kharg goes to China, the world’s top crude importer.
