Refinitiv reports the U.S. military supervised dozens of covert ship-to-ship
crude transfers on the fringes of the Strait of Hormuz to sustain Gulf energy
export flows. Operations began in early May and employed drones, unmanned
surface vessels and helicopters to shepherd ships to receiving tankers,
occurring offshore Fujairah (UAE) and offshore Sohar (Oman). Shipping data and
satellite imagery show at least 92 vessels took part; imagery on June 11 showed
17 pairs simultaneously transferring at the two sites. Four sources, including a
former U.S. official, said an Apache helicopter Iran shot down on June 9 — an
event that led to U.S. retaliatory strikes — had participated; satellite images
show six tanker pairs clustered off Sohar on the day the Apache was downed.
