The number of tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to a single vessel on Thursday, the thinnest crossing count since May 7, according to shiptracking figures compiled by analytics firm Kpler. The lone transit compared with three the day before and marks a sharp step down in flows through the world's most important oil chokepoint.
The very large crude carrier New Giant, laden with 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude, exited the strait bound for China's Rizhao port with an expected mid August arrival. The U.S. military said late Thursday it had completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, extending a campaign that has kept Middle East shipping risk premiums elevated and pushed Brent back to roughly $100 a barrel.
Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait told a different story. Kpler counted 32 commodity tanker crossings on July 23, up from 26 a day earlier, with 14 vessels entering the Red Sea and 18 exiting into the Gulf of Aden. Nine of the outbound tankers were carrying crude, including two Chinese supertankers headed home.
Some cargoes are already choosing the long way around. The clean tanker Torm Innovation, carrying roughly 500,000 barrels of naphtha for Asia, turned toward the Suez Canal rather than take the typical Bab el-Mandeb exit. Rerouting via Suez to Asia can nearly triple voyage length, according to regional trade sources.
Producers are adjusting on the loading side as well. Saudi Aramco has begun offering additional crude cargoes out of Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir as a workaround to its Red Sea terminals, a shift that adds tonne miles for buyers and pressures freight rates across the eastbound crude trade.