Strait of Hormuz Ship Traffic Drops to Single Digits, Data Shows

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply on Thursday, with just seven commodity ships making the crossing — half the previous day’s total — according to data from shiptracker Kpler, as concerns persist over risks to Middle East shipping amid stalled US-Iran peace talks.

Of the seven vessels, four entered the waterway and three exited. The strait, which handled nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before conflict broke out in February, saw no very large crude carriers or LNG tankers among Thursday’s transits. One very large gas carrier, transporting propane and butane, did exit via the Iranian side of the route.

Traffic through the Bab El-Mandeb strait also slowed slightly on Thursday. A total of 23 commodity ships transited the waterway, down from 34 on each of the previous two days, with 16 vessels entering and seven exiting. Among the exits were two Suezmax tankers, the Stoic Warrior and the Dokos, carrying crude oil bound for Vietnam and India respectively. No very large crude carriers or LNG tankers passed through Bab El-Mandeb on Thursday.

Kpler noted that vessels transiting with transponders switched off are not captured in the tracking data, meaning actual traffic levels through both waterways could be higher than reported.

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