Iran → China crude corridor · live voyage risk

🇮🇷 Bandar Abbas → Qingdao 🇨🇳

Iranian barrels out of the Strait of Hormuz to China — the textbook sanctioned-origin, dark-fleet lane.

54/100
Elevated risk
100% data confidence · 11 live signals

Risk signals last computed live from ArcNautical's voyage engine · data confidence 100%. This score is not static — it moves with conditions on the lane.

Distance
5,865 nm
Transit (est. @ 14 kn)
~17.5 days
Chokepoints crossed
3
Live sea-state (max)
0 m / 30 kt
Route: 🇮🇷 Bandar Abbas Gulf of OmanArabian SeaSri Lanka SouthAndaman SeaMalacca StraitSingapore StraitTaiwan Strait 🇨🇳 Qingdao

Why this lane scores Elevated — the 11 signals

ArcNautical's voyage engine composites eleven independent intelligence signals along the actual sea route, then weights each by how much it is driving risk on this corridor right now. Bar width = current severity of that signal; the percentage = its share of the composite score.

JWC Listed Areas 14% of score
Route transits 2 JWC listed area(s): Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean (HRA), Persian / Arabian Gulf severity 71/100 · 2 signals
Piracy Incidents 14% of score
5 piracy incident(s) within 100nm of route severity 64/100 · 5 signals
Conflict Events 12% of score
4 conflict events within 200nm: 2 armed conflict(s), 2 military incident(s) severity 60/100 · 4 signals
Marine Weather 11% of score
Light to moderate seas: 0.0m waves, 30kt winds | Seasonal: Arabian Sea monsoon/cyclone season (1.6x baseline risk, June) severity 46/100 · 10 signals
Chokepoint Disruption 9% of score
Route transits 3 chokepoint(s): Malacca Strait (disrupted, 60), Strait of Hormuz (elevated, 30), Taiwan Strait (normal) severity 60/100 · 2 signals
Sanctions Exposure 8% of score
Transit through IR (OFAC, EU, UNSC) severity 100/100 · 1 signal
Country Risk 8% of score
Route near 7 elevated-risk country/countries: IR, CN, OM, IN, PK, LK, ID severity 24/100 · 7 signals
Dark Activity 7% of score
18 dark activity event(s) within 80nm: 11 high, 7 medium severity 100/100 · 18 signals
Natural Disasters 7% of score
1 disaster event(s) within 200nm: 1 earthquake severity 5/100 · 1 signal
Navigational Warnings 6% of score
No active navigational warnings near route severity 0/100
AIS Disruptions 4% of score
No AIS disruptions near route severity 0/100

War-risk & piracy zones on this route

Listed-area intersections come from the Joint War Committee (JWC) hull-war zones, tested against the route geometry — not a country list. These are the areas underwriters load war-risk premium for.

5 recent piracy / armed-robbery incidents logged within 100 nm of the route (most recent: armed robbery near the Strait of Malacca).

Sanctions exposure on the corridor

This route runs 3% of its distance through sanctioned waters. A leg inside a sanctioned EEZ is where AIS-gap, dark-STS and shadow-fleet activity concentrate — the geography compliance teams have to be able to defend.

Route transits 1 sanctioned EEZ(s): Iran [OFAC, UNSC] (3%). 9 other EEZ(s): Andaman and Nicobar (15%), Indonesia (14%), Vietnam (9%), Taiwan (8%), China (8%), Sri Lanka (8%), Oman (6%), Malaysia (3%), Singapore (1%)

Geography is only half the question. Before you fix the cargo, screen the specific vessel and its ownership chain against OFAC / EU / UN / UK lists:

Run a free vessel sanctions check →

Score your actual Bandar Abbas → Qingdao voyage

This profile is the corridor baseline. Run the live scorer with your vessel, load condition, speed and departure date for a voyage-specific risk read, a Monte-Carlo ETA distribution, and a downloadable report.

Open the live voyage scorer →

Freight platforms price this lane. ArcNautical tells you what could go wrong on it.

FAQ

Is the Bandar Abbas to Qingdao shipping route high risk?

ArcNautical scores it 54/100 — Elevated risk. The largest drivers are JWC Listed Areas, Piracy Incidents, Conflict Events. The route crosses Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean (HRA) and Persian / Arabian Gulf, and runs 3% of its distance through sanctioned waters.

Which chokepoints does the Bandar Abbas–Qingdao route cross?

Malacca Strait, Singapore Strait, Taiwan Strait. Total distance 5,865 nautical miles, roughly 17 days at 14 knots.

Does the Bandar Abbas to Qingdao route pass through sanctioned waters?

Route transits 1 sanctioned EEZ(s): Iran [OFAC, UNSC] (3%). 9 other EEZ(s): Andaman and Nicobar (15%), Indonesia (14%), Vietnam (9%), Taiwan (8%), China (8%), Sri Lanka (8%), Oman (6%), Malaysia (3%), Singapore (1%)