Hormuz Shipping Traffic Remains Stuck in Single Digits

The Strait of Hormuz continues to see a minimal volume of tanker traffic, with only four vessels passing through the waterway on Tuesday, according to Reuters, citing ship-tracking data. This is a stark contrast to the seven vessels that traveled through the strait the day prior. The data does not encompass tankers that have disabled their geolocation devices.

Windward reported just one tanker entering the Strait of Hormuz on September 15th—an oil product carrier. The four tankers that entered the chokepoint on Tuesday and two that exited included a liquefied petroleum gas carrier and a naphtha carrier. The 10-day moving average for tanker traffic stands at 18, as per Reuters' report.

The re-escalation of hostilities, strikes on tankers, and the threat from Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea have led to increased caution among ship owners and energy exporters navigating the Strait of Hormuz. The recent Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline has halted crude oil loading from Yanbu, prompting Saudi Arabia to consider raising shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

However, with the Houthi expansion of control over the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the feasibility of this remains uncertain. Reports on the duration to repair the East-West pipeline by Aramco vary from a few days to several weeks. The rate of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been on a downward trend for several weeks, falling from double-digit 10-day moving averages to below 10 in recent days.

Even if the number of tankers crossing Hormuz is as high as those moving through it, the rates remain significantly low.