Hormuz Shipping Near Standstill as Daily Vessel Traffic Falls From 130 to 5

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has all but ground to a halt in the aftermath of repeated tanker attacks blamed on Iran.

Reuters, citing ship-tracking firm Kpler, reported on August 17 that only five cargo ships passed through the strait on August 15. None transited on August 16. That compares with 31 vessels over the previous weekend.

The ships that entered the strait on August 15 included a very large crude carrier, or VLCC, with its Automatic Identification System, or AIS, turned off, and an Indian-flagged very large gas carrier, or VLGC, using the Iranian-side shipping lane.

Traffic plunged after the United Arab Emirates said last week that three vessels operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or ADNOC, had come under attack while in service.

The UAE blamed Iran for the attacks. Actual traffic may be higher than the tally because some ships are traveling with AIS turned off. Even so, it remains well below the more than 130 vessels a day that used the strait before the US and Israel began the war against Iran in February.

With US-Iran talks to end the war stalled, Washington is pressing Tehran by saying it could keep a maritime blockade against Iran in place indefinitely. Iran says ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz can resume only if the US accepts its conditions, including compensation for war damage.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com