WEB DESK: Over the weekend, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed significantly after a vessel was hit while passing through the waterway on Saturday. This incident coincided with renewed tensions between the United States and Iran, complicating their efforts to de-escalate the ongoing conflict.
According to data from maritime tracking firm Kpler, 29 commercial ships navigated the strait on Saturday, followed by 12 on Sunday. These numbers represent a notable drop compared to last week when the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington on June 15 led to a surge in crossings, with a peak of 70 vessels on Wednesday—the highest since the conflict’s escalation.
Despite Iran issuing warnings against using unauthorized shipping routes, vessels continued to traverse multiple pathways through the strait over the weekend. After a vessel was struck Saturday morning, ships persisted in using a southern route through Omani waters for several hours before traffic decreased, as reported by MarineTraffic, a platform owned by Kpler. It is worth noting that MarineTraffic only monitors vessels with active transponders, so some ships may have crossed the strait with signals turned off.
Over the weekend, more vessels entered the Gulf than exited, reversing a previous trend where efforts focused on evacuating stranded sailors. A United Nations-led operation to evacuate 11,000 seafarers was temporarily halted last Thursday following the attack in the Gulf of Oman.
On Sunday, four tankers and a container ship utilized the southern Omani corridor to enter the Gulf, escorted by US Navy vessels, according to a post by HFI Research on X. However, no ships used this route to exit the Gulf on the same day, as per Kpler data. The total number of crossings may increase as additional data, including satellite imagery, is analyzed.
Iran announced on Monday that it had held its first meeting with Oman to discuss cooperative management of the strait. Meanwhile, the United States reiterated that it would not accept transit fees for passage through the waterway, asserting that it is an international route.
