Tankers shun Strait of Hormuz as total vessel traffic plunges
- Overall traffic drops amid deteriorating security situation,with 19 transits so far today (Sunday, March 1)
- Only several smaller tankers have passed the strait since Saturday night as crude cargoes are shut-in
- Most of Saturday’s transits headed eastbound towards the Indian Ocean
No traceable passings by major crude tankers through the Strait of Hormuz since Saturday night. A total of 72 vessels passed through the chokepoint on Saturday, down from 116 the day before but not an unprecedented low
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 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.
Iranian forces have been hailing commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz since missile strikes started on Saturday.
The message, reviewed by Lloyd’s List and described by tanker and security officials as credible, have repeatedly declared the key waterway as being closed to shipping.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Qatari outlet Al Jazeera on Sunday that Tehran does not plan to close the Strait of Hormuz at this time. However, at least three commercial vessels reported being hit by projectiles on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, and the deteriorating security environment, coupled with rising insurance premiums and cancellations of war risk policies, is acting as a de-facto deterrent for shipping in the region.
The Joint Maritime Information Center confirms there is no formal legal closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
At the time of writing, there were 19 transits through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, 90% of which were sailing eastbound.
Inbound traffic to Middle East Gulf
Some 27 ships sailed westbound on Saturday into the Middle East Gulf.
Most of these were tankers (13) and bulk carriers (five).
Greek shipowners were most highly represented among the inbound vessels, followed by companies based in India.
Several ships linked to China, the UAE, South Korea and Japan also transited.
On average 107 cargo-carrying vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz each day, about 10.3m dwt in tonnage terms.
