According to shipping data, at least 150 tankers, including crude oil and LNG carriers, have anchored in open waters of the Persian Gulf outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Dozens of other vessels remained at anchor on the other side of the narrow passage.

The tanker fleet has concentrated in open waters off the coasts of major Gulf oil producers, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as LNG giant Qatar, according to a Reuters assessment based on vessel-tracking data from the MarineTraffic platform.