Hormuz Ship Traffic Crashes as Middle East Tensions Escalate

The Strait of Hormuz has seen a significant decline in ship traffic due to ongoing tensions in the Gulf. According to shipping data, only 17 commodity vessels transited the strait over the weekend, down from 37 a week earlier.

This drop is particularly concerning since the Strait of Hormuz is responsible for transporting nearly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Despite this, Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers with their transponders turned off.

Among these vessels, five exited the strait on Sunday, including the Pinios, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude oil. This cargo is expected to be transferred to another VLCC, New Constant, which will head to China.

The decline in ship traffic has been attributed to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, with attacks on Saudi Aramco's East-West pipeline prompting the state energy firm to increase exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next. In fact, a total of 22 tankers carrying 42 million barrels of crude exited the strait in the week of September 13, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq each accounting for 43% of the volume.