Shipping Companies Turn Down US-Guided Military Transit Through Hormuz Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. July 15, 2026 © Adobe Stock/alones Shipping companies are avoiding using a U.S. military-guided transit scheme through the Strait of Hormuz after a wave of Iranian attacks on vessels sparked safety concerns, seven  maritime  security and shipping industry sources said. For decades ships sailed into and out of the Gulf using a safe set of lanes down the middle of the strait established by the U.N.’s shipping agency in 1968 dubbed the Traffic Separation Scheme. Since the Iran war began on February 28, Iranian forces have mined this area, forcing vessels to use one of two makeshift routes close to either the Iranian or Omani coast. HELPING GULF ENERGY EXPORTS KEEP FLOWING In June, Reuters reported that the U.S. military had helped vessels through as part of an operation involving scores of secretive ship-to-ship oil transfers to keep Gulf energy exports flowing, using aerial and water drones as well as helicopters to guide tankers. The U.S.-assisted initiative enabled the export of tens of millions of barrels of oil, helping dampen the impact on energy prices of the largest-ever disruption in oil and gas supplies. Yet shippers are evaluating the route on the Omani side of the strait as increasingly dangerous after a wave of attacks on ships. Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday claimed responsibility for attacks on two Emirati oil supertankers. Some five ships have been attacked since July 7 – three crude supertankers, one LNG tanker and one container ship – in Omani waters that fell under the U.S. scheme, according to analysis of incidents based on data from the U.N.'s shipping agency. It was unclear if all the ships were sailing under the U.S. scheme, the sources said. "The U.S. doesn't seem to have any control over the situation," one shipping source said, adding that their company had opted not to sail through the strait due to crew safe