Following an attack on a Taiwanese-operated ship, the Strait of Hormuz experienced a substantial reduction in vessel transits. On Friday, June 26th, tanker traffic, including crude oil, oil products, and chemical tankers, dropped to 13 transits in both directions, a sharp decline from 24 on Thursday and 27 on Wednesday. This slowdown marks a significant departure from the peak traffic seen earlier in the week, described by Kpler as the highest level since before the conflict began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28th. Despite the general decrease, at least four tankers, including three very large crude carriers (VLCCs) capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels of oil each, entered the Gulf to load oil, according to LSEG and MarineTraffic data. Crude oil prices, however, fell by more than 3% on Friday, due to easing supply concerns and Saudi Arabia resuming Gulf loadings.
Overall ship movements, encompassing all vessel types including dry bulk ships, also saw a marked decrease. AXSMarine reported 62 transits on June 24th, which, while the highest single-day count since the conflict started, represented only 53% of the traffic recorded on the same day last year. Prior to the conflict, overall average daily sailings were around 125 ships, a figure that had dropped to fewer than ten vessels per day at the conflict's peak. The attack, which involved an "unknown object" hitting the Evergreen Marine ship near Oman, led the UN shipping agency (IMO) to temporarily halt its voluntary scheme to evacuate hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers from the Gulf. This pause was a precautionary measure, even though the attacked vessel was not part of the IMO's evacuation framework, as stated by IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez.
The attack and subsequent traffic slowdown have highlighted the fragile security situation in the Strait. Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at shipping association BIMCO, described the attack as a "setback in the plans to evacuate ships and resume transits," though he noted some transits could still occur. Prior to the incident, there had been a surge in traffic earlier in the week, with 73 vessels transiting the waterway on Wednesday, June 24th, according to MarineTraffic, the highest number since the war began. This uptick was largely attributed to the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and a ceasefire agreement, prompting a humanitarian effort by the UN and IMO to clear stranded vessels. This situation underscores the critical need for clear agreements between the U.S. and Iran to normalize maritime traffic through the strait.
