Hormuz Traffic Picks Up Slightly: 10 Vessels on Wednesday, but Still Well Below Normal

Ten merchant vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, up from seven on Tuesday, but traffic remains far below the 10-day average of around 17 ships, preliminary shipping data published Thursday by Reuters show.

According to the data, nine vessels entered the strait — including Supramax ships carrying metals, grains and other dry cargo, as well as a large empty gas carrier — while only one Supramax vessel carrying chemical fertilizers exited the strait, as of 04:23 GMT on Thursday. The figures do not include ships that may have transited with their transponders switched off to avoid detection.

Before the start of the U.S.–Iran war on February 28, the strait was used by around 125 large merchant vessels a day — tankers, gas carriers, cargo ships and containers — carrying around 20% of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) every day.

In the other strategic strait, Bab el-Mandeb, 27 merchant vessels passed through on Wednesday, up from 24 a day earlier and in line with the 10-day average of 26 ships — a sign of a return to normality on the route linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Meanwhile, diplomacy continues with difficulty: a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran is reviewing Washington’s response to its peace proposals, whose priority is lifting the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and reopening the Strait of Hormuz — although, according to him, the sides “remain far apart” on how to end the war.

Source: Reuters