BlockBeats News, June 16th. According to Reuters, to maintain the flow of energy exports in the Gulf region, the U.S. military has overseen dozens of secret ship-to-ship oil transfer operations, utilizing aerial drones, surface unmanned vessels, and helicopters to guide the fleet to waiting oil tankers.

The operation took place on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz and employed a transfer method long used by Iran to evade sanctions. Sources familiar with the operation confirmed two specific locations for oil transfers: one off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE and another outside the port of Sohar in Oman.

Based on shipping data and satellite imagery, the operation began in early May, with at least 92 vessels participating in the transfers. Satellite images as of June 11th showed 17 pairs of vessels simultaneously engaged in crude oil transfer operations at these two locations. Four sources, including a former U.S. official, revealed that on June 9th, an Apache helicopter, shot down by Iran and leading to subsequent U.S. retaliatory strikes, was involved in this mission. Satellite images indicated that on the day the Apache helicopter was downed, six pairs of tankers were clustered in a small area outside Sohar port.