Less than 20 ships transit Strait of Hormuz over weekend

Fewer than 20 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to data from Kpler. On Sunday, four vessels crossed the strait, while 13 others transited on Saturday. The total count is not entirely clear, as some ships had switched off their transponders while passing through the key waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has been a point of contention, with Iran claiming it has control of the waterway. However, the US has disputed this narrative. According to Fortune, the US military helped ship over 15 million barrels of oil and products out of the strait on one day, with a seven-day average of 8 million barrels.

An Iranian parliamentary committee has approved charging service fees to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Some vessels have been able to sail through undetected at night with their transponders turned off, following a two-week stretch of US bombing that degraded Iran's radar and maritime surveillance systems.

Brief written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye, Fortune, Ajel English — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.