Commodity vessels trickle through Strait of Hormuz as Mideast conflict persists

The Strait of Hormuz, a critical conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas, has seen a significant decrease in traffic due to the ongoing Mideast conflict between the US and Iran. As of the latest data, only 17 commodity vessels transited the strait over the weekend, compared to 37 a week earlier. This reduction in visible traffic has led to a trickle of vessels passing through the historically busy strait, which typically handles around 125 large commercial vessels daily.

Despite the tension, Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil through tankers traveling with transponders off the coast. Among the trackable ships, five vessels exited the strait on Sunday, while two small-sized oil tankers entered the Gulf. The Pinios, a very large crude carrier, was transferring 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude oil off the United Arab Emirates Fujairah to another VLCC, New Constant, which is expected to head to China.

Brief written by urgent.news from Gulf Times Business's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.