According to media reports, after the US airstrike on Iran, two supertankers with a capacity of about 2 million barrels of oil made an emergency U-turn in front of the Strait of Hormuz.

Late last Saturday, US President Trump announced that the United States had "successfully" attacked Iran's three major nuclear enrichment facilities, which had been "completely destroyed."

At present, the world is closely watching how Iran will respond to the US attack. Iran has stated that it will reserve "all (retaliation) options." One of the potential options is to block the Strait of Hormuz, which is of great strategic significance, which increases the risks faced by commercial shipping in the region.

According to media reports, the Iranian parliament supports closing the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision lies with Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Jakob Larsen, security director at the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the world's largest shipowners' organization, said recently that Iran may try to cause wider disruption to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz by attacking merchant ships.

According to ship tracking data compiled by the media, two supertankers named "Coswisdom Lake" and "South Loyalty" suddenly changed their routes and turned around in front of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The two empty cargo ships then sailed south and left the entrance of the Persian Gulf.

Since Israel's sudden attack on Iran on June 13, electronic equipment and signals of ships in the Persian Gulf have been increasingly interfered with. However, the arrival of the two supertankers mentioned above, and the subsequent U-turn, have the characteristics of normal tanker navigation activities and are not affected by electronic signal interference.

The choice of multiple tankers to turn back in front of the Strait of Hormuz shows that the global shipping industry is highly vigilant about the possible impact on this waterway after the US attack on Iran. Given the heightened tensions, ships may prefer to wait outside the Strait of Hormuz if they expect to have to wait after arriving at the loading port.

Before the US attack on Iran, the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel had already caused ships to begin to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the world's largest shipowner organization, said last week that the large-scale conflict between Iran and Israel has made the entire shipping industry uneasy. At present, many ships have chosen to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, and the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz is declining.

At present, tanker owners and traders are closely watching the further impact of the escalation of the situation in the Middle East on the traffic volume in the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Sunday, the Greek Ministry of Shipping said in a notice to shipowners that ships planning to pass through the narrow waters of the Persian Gulf should "re-evaluate navigation in the Strait of Hormuz" until the situation returns to normal. If a ship decides to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the shipowner should take the highest level of security measures and keep as far away from Iranian waters as possible.

Benchmark freight rates in the shipping market had risen nearly 90% before the U.S. attacks, and freight rate derivatives appeared to have spiked on Sunday evening.