Hormuz traffic falls below 20 ships over weekend amid blockades

SINGAPORE: Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday, as Iranian and US blockades continued to restrict traffic through the key energy shipping chokepoint.

Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed by 0228 GMT, with 13 on Saturday. The figures could change as some ships had switched off transponders on their way through.

That compared with Friday’s figure of 16 transits, with two empty very large crude carriers (VLCCs) entering the Gulf with the tracking devices switched off, one heading to Iraq and the other to Bahrain, the data showed.

A VLCC carrying 2 million barrels of Emirati crude exited the strait on Thursday.

Eight very large gas carriers transited the strait over the past three days, the data showed, six of them entering empty while the others carried liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) loaded from Iran and exited the Gulf.

Overall traffic volumes remained suppressed in the week to August 21, as vessels aborted transit plans or switched routes through the strait’s north after attacks, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said in a report.

A total of 89 vessels exited the strait while 103 entered over the seven-day period, the report, based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, showed.

“Traffic remains well below normal levels, with AIS-detected transits approximately 90% below pre-conflict baselines and declining since the June 24 to June 26 peak,” it added.

Tanker traffic, at 45% of the total, continued to dominate movement through the strait, the agency said. Of these, 56% were tankers that carry crude oil, oil products or chemicals while LPG carriers accounted for a further 24%.

Since July 6, the UKMTO has reported 23 incidents of projectile strikes, leading to bridge, engine-room, and structural damage across vessels in the strait and its vicinity.

A total of 24 commodity vessels sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, down from Saturday’s figure of 32, which was an increase from 22 on Friday, Kpler data showed.

Two VLCCs entered the Red Sea on Saturday with one carrying Iraqi Basrah crude and the other empty, it showed.