Shipping volume through the Strait of Hormuz decreased significantly over the weekend following an attack on a vessel this past Saturday. The incident prompted a new round of hostilities between the United States and Iran, complicating their recent agreement to de-escalate regional tensions.
Data from Kpler indicates that 29 commercial ships navigated the strait on Saturday, followed by only 12 on Sunday. This represents a substantial drop from the previous week, during which a June 15 memorandum of understanding saw traffic reach a peak of 70 crossings on Wednesday.
While Iran has cautioned against unauthorized shipping lanes, vessels utilized various paths through the region throughout the weekend. Following Saturday’s strike, ships initially continued to utilize a southern corridor near Omani waters for several hours before activity subsided, based on MarineTraffic data. Note that these figures only account for ships with active transponders, so actual transit numbers may be higher.
The weekend saw more ships arriving in the Gulf than leaving, a shift from the prior week’s focus on evacuating 11,000 stranded seafarers—an operation that was halted Thursday after another strike in the Gulf of Oman. Although the US Navy provided escorts for vessels using the Omani corridor on Sunday, no ships were recorded using that route to depart the area. Iran announced on Monday that it has initiated discussions with Oman regarding the management of the waterway, while Washington maintains that it will reject any demand for transit fees in what it defines as international waters.
