Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply following the latest exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran, the tanker owners' association INTERTANKO said in a guidance note to members on Friday. Vessel transits along the southern route off the Omani coast have fallen into the single digits after strikes on commercial shipping on July 7 and subsequent U.S. retaliation.
Traffic on the northern route closer to the Iranian coast remained above 20 vessels a day, INTERTANKO said, but that is still well short of the more than 70 daily transits logged after the June ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. The southern route is normally the preferred lane for laden crude and product tankers, and its collapse marks the sharpest pullback owners have made since fighting resumed.
INTERTANKO described the latest military exchanges as more intense and geographically broader than earlier ceasefire breakdowns, with significant strikes reported on Bahrain and Kuwait. The association said the Gulf appeared relatively quiet at the time of writing following two days of strikes, but did not signal that owners were ready to return to normal routing patterns.
Technical talks between U.S. and Iranian officials are continuing despite the renewed fighting, INTERTANKO added, covering both nuclear issues and future arrangements for Gulf shipping. The International Maritime Organization's proposed seafarer evacuation plan for the region remains on hold. About a fifth of global oil moves through the strait each day, and the reduced transit count is already feeding into higher war risk premiums and longer waiting times for charterers loading in the Gulf.