Vessels trickle through Strait of Hormuz as Mideast tension persists

A dozen commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down from 35 the previous weekend, according to shipping data. This represents a significant decrease in traffic through the strait, which before a war, was a conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

Visible traffic through the strait has dwindled to a trickle, although Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers travelling with their transponders off. According to Kpler, a analytics firm, among trackable ships, four vessels exited the strait on Sunday, while two small-sized oil tankers entered the Gulf.

The Strait of Hormuz typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day before a US-Israeli war with Iran started, according to the New Straits Times. Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until its demands are met, as reported by Arutz Sheva - Israel National News. The US and Iran are currently at a stalemate.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, New Straits Times, Middle East Eye, Arutz Sheva - Israel National News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.