Two very large crude carriers, the Sanmar Herald and Desh Vaibhav, were in the strait heading in the direction of the Arabian Sea on Friday | Image: Bloomberg
By Prejula Prem and Robert Tuttle
An oil supertanker is once again heading from the Persian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz after briefly reversing direction.
The Desh Vibhor, which earlier appeared to be sailing toward a southern route that’s recommended by the US military, is now heading in a more northerly direction toward the Iranian coast. The supertanker made a U-turn earlier before turning again back to resume its journey toward the strait, tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The oil market is watching cargo flows through Hormuz closely after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace deal on Wednesday. Despite the pact, Iran has declared that ships can’t cross the waterway without its permission.
The ship is run by the Shipping Corp. of India. A spokesman for the company didn’t immediately respond to an out-of-hours request for comment.
Two very large crude carriers, the Sanmar Herald and Desh Vaibhav, were in the strait heading in the direction of the Arabian Sea on Friday.
First Published: Jun 20 2026 | 12:24 PM IST











