Commercial ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has declined, with only 33 ships passing through from Monday through Thursday this week, according to data, compared to 50 the previous week, as markets await news or signs of progress in the talks between Iran – Oman, in the hope that the key maritime passage for international hydrocarbon trade will reopen.
Only four ships passed through the strait yesterday, including a very large crude carrier (VLCC), the Nissos Kea, which had loaded some 2 million barrels in Basra, Iraq, according to data from Kpler.
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Of the rest, two were carrying liquefied petroleum gas, and another was a bulk carrier.
Only six crude oil tankers passed through the strait all week, again according to Kpler. A total of 21 entered, most via the sea route along the Iranian coast.
Before Iran announced the closure of the Strait, following the U.S.-Israeli attack against the Islamic Republic on February 28, between 130 and 140 ships passed through it daily.
U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated yesterday that the Strait will reopen “soon.”
During brief remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, he assured them that talks on the issue are going “very well” and claimed that he is “personally involved in the negotiations”—though he did not explain with whom. “It may be concluded soon,” he added.
On Wednesday, Iran reported that it had essentially reached an agreement with Oman on a new route through the strait, now at the heart of the conflict with the U.S., but warned that this does not mean the waterway will be opened, as that will depend on the U.S., which has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the Gulf, according to Iranian sources who spoke to state media.
Furthermore, the agreement may be complicated by U.S. sanctions and various restrictive clauses imposed by insurance companies, according to industry sources.
On the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, in the Red Sea, Kpler counted 26 ships that passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait yesterday, compared to 19 the day before. Another source specializing in commercial shipping, LSEG, counted 28, though it uses a different methodology.
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Source: Proto Thema
