Looks like the war with Iran is cooking off

[EndtheMadnessNow]

In a new release, CENTCOM says it struck over 90 targets on Iran's Kharg Island last night, including naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites. Video: https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2032777791247155482


Deploy more warships from multiple countries to the Strait of Hormuz. Insurance premiums will stay sky-high or many insurers will simply refuse coverage altogether ensuring that the vast majority of oil and LNG tankers won't dare transit. Well done—mission accomplished!

If Iran's navy and military capabilities were truly 100% destroyed, leaving them only able to launch "a drone or two," as president Trump claimed, then how exactly would warships defend oil tankers from such threats? More importantly, why on earth would we need a multinational armada of warships from several countries to protect commercial shipping against what would essentially be a handful of nuisance drones?

Even if the entire island were turned into molten lava from volcanic-level destruction, the actual hit to Iran's oil export capacity would be minimal limited. Anyone claiming that bombing or seizing Kharg would cripple the regime's ability to keep oil flowing clearly doesn't understand Iran's oil infrastructure.


Trump says U.S. 'obliterated' military targets on Iran's Kharg Island but didn't 'wipe out' oil infrastructure

Iran did not export oil from Kharg Island between 2019 and 2022. So, how was Iran able to export oil??

The fact is, Iran, with the help of China, built a large number of ports to circumvent sanctions.  Iran has a pipeline that runs north to South to circumvent the Hormuz Strait.

Kharg Island Strike Analysis 
New coords in OSINT show strike sites across Kharg Island. Beyond runway/airport cluster.  Early analysis matches official reports: military infrared hit, oil export facilities spared.
Open reporting indicates strikes targeted:
- Missile storage sites
- Naval mining/mine storage infrastructure
- IRGC military facilities
- Oil terminals, tank farms, homes and export jetties were deliberately spared to avoid immediate disruption to global energy markets.

Civilian infrastructure:
Kharg Island includes residential areas, municipal streets, and public spaces.
Locations like this were not targeted during the strikes, reinforcing reporting that operations avoided civilian and economic infrastructure

When mapped together, the strike locations form a clear pattern:
Targets are inland military and logistics sites, avoiding the northern coastal oil terminals and tanker loading facilities. Photo locations were not targeted.


https://x.com/IPSecOSINT/status/2032830458761990624

Two Oil Tankers Seen at Kharg After Strikes, Satellite Firm Says


Breakdown of Trump statement:

1. Allied warships took over the Red Sea after Operation Prosperity Guardian in Yemen. Shipping traffic did not return.
2. If they can still send a drone, mine or missile, than you have not destroyed 100%.  While the military does not see this as a risk, commercial shipping does.
3. Are we actively talking to Allies about an escort mission or are we just "hoping"?
4. If we are continually bombing and shooting, then this is similar to Operation Rough Rider, the second time we bombed Yemen; but again failed to return the Red Sea to 2023 levels.
5. One way or another is not a strategy that will convince shipping companies, masters and mariners that it is safe to sail through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

At the very least the US should be getting the five US ships out of the Persian Gulf: Stena Imperative (oil tanker), Maersk Yorktown (container ship), CS Anthem (oil tanker), Alliance Fairfax (Vehicles Carrier) & APL Eagle (container ship).


Nobody is more daring than the Greeks.


Lured by profits, some shipowners brave mines and missiles to sneak oil past Iran

The Strait of Hormuz is safe.




The spice must flow...

Supertankers Build Up in Red Sea as Saudi Arabia Races to Bypass Hormuz

Mar 13, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Saudi Arabia’s race to bypass the Strait of Hormuz has led to a buildup of oil supertankers waiting off the kingdom’s Red Sea coast to collect cargoes, as Riyadh tries to overcome unprecedented disruption caused by the Iran war.

In the past day or so, 11 very-large crude carriers reached the port of Yanbu and are now waiting nearby before starting loading, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant, has said shipments will soon reach 5 million barrels a day, but the infrastructure to do that has never been tested to this extent before.

That’s left traders watching closely the pace at which the country can load cargoes onto an influx of tankers racing toward the port.

‘The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market’: IEA’s take on the Hormuz crisis

Iran’s new supreme leader has pledged to maintain the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as the maritime crisis engulfing the Middle East triggers warnings of the worst oil supply disruption in history, a Norwegian transit ban, and an emergency International Maritime Organization session, all underscoring the gravity of a situation that is rapidly reshaping global shipping.

“Certainly, the leverage of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used,” Khamenei declared, signalling that the world’s most critical energy chokepoint will remain a weapon of pressure against Washington and Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future.

The security picture in the waters around the strait is deteriorating by the day. The Joint Maritime Information Center’s latest advisory – Update 12, issued Thursday – recorded three additional vessel strikes within a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of maritime security incidents since hostilities began on February 28 to more than 20.

Analysts tracking the pattern of attacks say they show no preference for Western-flagged or Western-owned tonnage, suggesting the campaign is designed to maximise broad disruption rather than pursue politically targeted strikes.

“The incidents involve a wide range of vessel types and flag states, with no consistent pattern of Western ownership linkage,” the JMIC advisory states.

The centre warns the threat environment across the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz is likely to remain “highly volatile in the coming days,” with particular concern for vessels at anchor, ship-to-ship transfer operations, and port approaches and offshore energy facilities. Missiles, drones, and unmanned surface vessels all remain active threats.

The International Energy Agency is now using its starkest language yet to describe the economic consequences. In a report published Thursday, the Paris-based agency said the halt to commercial shipping through Hormuz has generated a “considerable backlog” of vessels, and that a return to full trade flows could take months even after hostilities end.

“The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the IEA said, adding that a credible escort regime and improved port and anchorage security would be critical to unwinding the backlog. Gulf producers have already been forced to slash output as the crisis bites.

Norway became the first government to impose an outright transit ban on Thursday, with the Norwegian Maritime Authority barring all Norwegian-flagged vessels from entering the Persian Gulf with immediate effect – regardless of individual shipowner risk assessments.

“The oil and gas tanker markets might enjoy today’s income spike, but could end up as long-term collateral damage,” Shipping Strategy argued, concluding: “Wars often begin with confidence. They rarely end the way that anyone expects.”

Meanwhile, there is that other maritime war going on. Maran Homer oiler, greek owner, hit by drone in the Black Sea on its way from Salonic to Novorossiisk.


A Greek-flagged tanker was attacked in the Black Sea. There is also a Romanian


Back across the pond, the trash barge fire on Delaware Bay from March 10th has finally been extinguished and the scene turned over to the salvors. The narrator is more painful than watching the smelly fire.




Iranian Revolutionary Guard:



What comes around goes around. Imagine if Iran decided to help Russia and its attack drones hit Ukrainian cities every night. Sigh...



By this summer the entire Euro continent will be at war, all firing modified Shahed drones at each other. Europe will be buying Shahed drones from the US at premium prices. Civilians in Ukraine and the Middle East now under dual threats. More & more people are suddenly going to be paying attention to the skies...Brother, what's that sound?!

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a drone over there
Telling me i got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down




Trump to the UK, 7 March: "We don't need them any longer... We don't need people to join wars after we've already won!"

Trump 7 days later: Publicly begs the UK to send warships.




Someone take his iPhone away…




SitREP Critical:


JMIC Advisories