Even after a cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile near Oman and Iran issued renewed warnings, commercial vessel traffic continued to flow through the Strait of Hormuz. The attack occurred hours after Iran threatened that vessels needed its permission to use the route, and several freighters reportedly turned around earlier in the day following Iranian Navy warnings. Oil prices reacted to the incident, with Brent crude reaching session highs above $75 a barrel after reports that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency, paused its evacuation plan for stranded ships in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz until safety guarantees can be confirmed. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez stated that the attacked vessel was not part of their evacuation effort. The incident has undermined the fragile confidence in the rapid reopening of this vital energy shipping corridor, which transports about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas.
A new route, laid out by Oman in coordination with the IMO, saw increased traffic, with 70 crossings recorded on the Oman route prior to the attack. Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, a significant increase from 33 the week before. On Wednesday, 78 transits occurred, the most since the war began, though still below the pre-war average of 130 or more daily transits. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf, reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the new route and ensuring safe transit, stating that no fees would be charged to ships.
