Tankers shun Strait of Hormuz as total vessel traffic plunges
TANKERS are shunning the Strait of Hormuz amid a deteriorating security situation in the region as war between the US, Israel and Iran wages on.
By 1800 hrs UTC on Sunday, just seven smaller tankers and one gas carrier — including three shadow fleet* vessels — had passed through the critical maritime passage. The largest of the eight vessels was a 75,000 dwt panamax tanker.
In comparison, by 1800 hrs on Friday, on the eve of the war’s outbreak, 56 tankers had passed sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, the data showed.
The last very large crude carrier to sail through the strait was the Hong Kong-flagged New Vision (IMO: 9799202).
The precipitous decline in traffic, while not unexpected given the ongoing hostilities and risk to commercial vessels, essentially confirms comments from senior commodity traders on Saturday that they will suspend oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Overall, traffic across all sectors through the Strait of Hormuz dropped 38% on Saturday, with 72 cargo-carrying vessels over 10,000 dwt transiting the chokepoint that connects the Middle East Gulf to the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean.
These vessels made 75 voyages through the Strait of Hormuz, with two passing through twice as they diverted back to the Gulf of Oman.
While there was a 38% drop in the number of distinct transits day on day, it is not an unprecedented low.
The majority (66.7%) of the ships that transited the Strait of Hormuz on February 28 were sailing eastbound.
The chokepoint was busiest earlier in the day with traffic slowing in the afternoon and evening.
It was not immediately clear how many vessels were transiting with their Automatic Identification System switched off. AIS data in the region is also being impacted by GNSS interference, although it does appear to be materially impacting the ability to gauge traceable transit levels through the Strait of Hormuz.
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