US-Iran Clashes Slow Ship Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz

Commercial ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend after a tanker was hit and exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran cast doubt on a preliminary agreement to end the war.

According to data from maritime monitoring company Kpler, a total of 29 ships carrying raw materials passed through the Strait on Saturday, while another 12 were recorded on Sunday.

The previous day’s figure ranks among the lowest compared with preceding days, following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington. Last Wednesday alone, for example, 70 crossings were counted over a 24-hour period.

UKMTO, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, said that on Saturday a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a missile of unknown origin. The ship’s bridge was damaged in the incident, while no injuries were reported.

Following the incident, according to MarineTraffic, owned by Kpler, ships continued for several hours to use the southern corridor through Omani waters before the pace of traffic began to decline.

Over the weekend, the number of ships entering the Persian Gulf was also higher than the number of vessels leaving it, reversing last week’s trend, when the focus had been on the departure of around 11,000 sailors who had remained stranded.

In a post by HFI Research on platform X, it was said that on Sunday four tankers and one container ship entered the Persian Gulf using Oman’s southern passage, under the escort of US Navy ships.

On the other hand, according to Kpler, no ship used the same corridor on Sunday to leave the Persian Gulf.

The total number of crossings may be revised upward later, as some of them are identified with delay, mainly through satellite images.