Hormuz Tanker Traffic Remains Subdued Despite Reports of Peace Talks

Despite ongoing peace talks, the Strait of Hormuz remains a bottleneck for tanker traffic, according to Reuters. Only five tankers passed through the waterway on a recent day, with three entering and two exiting, citing Kpler data. The reports, however, do not indicate an end to the chokepoint's constraints. One of the vessels that exited was an Emirati LNG carrier returning to India, marking its third passage through the Strait of Hormuz since Iran's conflict with the U.S. and Israel escalated at the end of February.

Other LNG tankers in the region have faced attacks, with two of them belonging to Qatar and one to Greece. Despite these incidents, one Qatari LNG cargo managed to pass through the Strait on a separate occasion, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, QatarEnergy secured 33 LNG cargoes, indicating a possible effort to boost exports despite the existing force majeure situation at its Ras Laffan gas hub.

Even with these positive developments, traffic levels in the Strait of Hormuz are still a mere fraction of pre-war norms. Before February 28, when the U.S. and Israel initiated strikes on Iran, the average daily vessel count in the waterway stood between 130 and 140. The Bab el-Mandeb experienced more activity, with 14 energy commodity carriers either entering or exiting, including an LNG carrier.