Bulker and containership owners do not plan to curtail their vessels' infrequent trips through the Strait of Hormuz despite the rash of tanker attacks in the last few weeks.
They would rather not exclude the waterway from their voyages, especially since it is impossible to halt such attacks, Star Bulk Carriers president Hamish Norton said.
"You can have the right insurance and take reasonable precautions, but these limpet-mine attacks are impossible to defend against," he told TradeWinds at the 32nd annual Marine Money Week in New York.
His comments came following last week's attacks on Frontline's 110,000-dwt Front Altair (built 2016) and Kokuka Sangyo's 27,000-dwt Kokuka Courageous (built 2010) in the strait off Fujairah.
The attacks come a month after four other tankers were assailed in similar fashion in the region.
"We're not going to put the Strait of Hormuz on our charterparties as a no-go zone because, at some point, some people may say our ships can't go through the Strait of Hormuz," Norton said. "It hasn't come to that yet."
Rare transits
He said Star Bulk transports grains through the strait maybe only twice a year anyway and the attackers only seem interested in targeting tankers.
"The only thing you can do is say we won't go to Strait of Hormuz but I don't think anybody's prepared to put that in a charterparty yet," he said.
Giant boxship operator Maersk Line services ports in the Middle East and has no immediate plans to stop doing so despite the recent tanker attacks, spokesman Mikkel Elbek Linnet told TradeWinds via email.
"We are keeping an eye on the situation and are taking precautionary measures, however our operations are not impacted," he said.
The company's website shows numerous voyages that begin in Abu Dhabi before going through the Strait of Hormuz to myriad destinations.
Bulkers and boxships importing or exporting goods through the strait will probably not get attacked because their cargoes have marginal value, Jefferies analyst Randy Giveans said.
"[It's] highly unlikely just because the value of the commodity on the tankers is much greater," he told TradeWinds at Monday's conference.
He said there probably will not be any attacks for weeks or months, given the heightened protection from the US and other countries.
"The world is keeping such a watchful eye on the region." he said.
