Hormuz Vessel Transits Drop to Seven as Regional Tensions Persist
Vessel transits at the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday from 11 a day earlier, well below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shiptracking data showed.
Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven transits on Thursday, down from 11 the previous day and well short of the 10-day average of 15, according to preliminary shiptracking data released on Friday.
The figures, compiled by ship tracker Kpler as of 0306 GMT, cover only vessels broadcasting their Automatic Identification System signals and exclude any ships that crossed the strait with transponders switched off to avoid detection.
Two Panamax vessels left the strait, one carrying fertiliser and the other sailing in ballast. Five vessels entered: a Panamax carrying dry bulk cargo, a Handysize laden with steel, a Handysize carrying grains, a medium-range tanker loaded with dirty petroleum products, and a Supramax carrying dry bulk cargo.
Before the Iran war began on February 28, the strait routinely handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container ships. Those flows accounted for roughly 20% of the world's daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.
A U.S. blockade targeting Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.
Elsewhere in the region, Iran-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen's port city of Mocha on Thursday and pushed down the Red Sea coast towards strategic islands, military sources said.
In the Bab el-Mandeb strait, 26 commodity vessels passed through on Thursday, with 10 entering and 16 exiting, tracking data showed. That compares with an average of about 27 ships over the past 10 days.