Hundreds of ships drop anchor in Middle East Gulf as US war on Iran escalates

London: At least 150 tankers including crude and ⁠liquefied natural gas vessels ⁠dropped anchor in ‌open Gulf ​waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz and dozens ​more were stationary ⁠on the other side of the chokepoint, shipping data ⁠showed ‌on Sunday, after US and Israeli ‌strikes on ⁠Iran plunged the region into a new ‌war.

The tankers ‌were clustered in ‌open waters ‌off the coasts of major Gulf oil producers ⁠including ⁠Iraq and Saudi Arabia as well as LNG giant Qatar, according to Reuters estimates ​based on ship-tracking data from ​the ​Marine Traffic platform.