Strait of Hormuz vessel transits fall to three amid Gulf conflict

Three ships. That’s how many vessels crossed through the Strait of Hormuz on September 16, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. To put that in perspective, the pre-conflict average for this waterway, which handles roughly a fifth of global oil supply, was somewhere between 100 and 140 vessels per day. The number represents a steep drop from 12 transits the day before and sits well below the recent 10-day average of approximately 17. The Strait hasn’t just gotten quieter. It’s gone nearly silent. What actually crossed Of the three vessels that made the passage, only one did so in anything resembling normal fashion. That was an empty Supramax dry bulk carrier using the Iranian-approved northern route, meaning it carried no cargo and stayed close to Iranian waters. The other two were tankers running dark. Their AIS transponders, the tracking systems that broadcast a vessel’s identity and position, were switched off entirely. Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea was similarly depressed, with only 21 crossings recorded on the same day. The conflict driving the shutdown The near-total collapse in Hormuz traffic stems from an intensify...