Hormuz shipping traffic remains below 10-day average at weekend

Commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz during the weekend dropped to single-digit numbers, falling well below the 10-day average of 14, according to preliminary ship tracking data released on Monday. Over the weekend, four vessels exited the Gulf via the strait, while ten entered. These included a Handysize vessel in ballast, a Handy vessel carrying LPG, a Supramax carrying fertiliser, a Suezmax carrying crude or condensate, a mini-bulker, a Handymax, a Panamax, and another Supramax.

The figures do not include vessels with Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection. A vessel was reportedly struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, though the crew's status, damage assessment, and environmental impact remain unknown. The vital East-West oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia was temporarily shut down by a drone attack originating from Iraq.

Before the Iran war began on February 28, the strait typically accommodated about 125 large commercial vessels per day, representing around 20% of the world's daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply. Since Iran's oil exports were reimposed in mid-July, a US blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted these exports. In the Bab el-Mandeb strait, 24 and 27 commodity vessels sailed through on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, compared to an average of approximately 27 vessels over the last 10 days.