LONDON, Apr 27 — Only five ships, including one Iranian oil products tanker, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 24 hours on Friday, shipping data showed, after Iran seized two container ships last week and the United States continued its blockade of Iranian ports.
Shipping traffic through the crucial waterway at the entrance to the Gulf, during an uneasy ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, now represents a fraction of the average 140 daily passages before the Iran war began on February 28.
“For most shipping companies, they will need a stable ceasefire and assurances from both sides of the conflict that the Strait of Hormuz is safe to transit,” said Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at shipping association BIMCO.
“In the meantime, shipping will be restricted to routes close to Iran and Oman. Due to their confined nature, these routes cannot safely accommodate the normal volumes of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
The Iranian-flagged oil products tanker Niki, which is subject to US sanctions, was among the few vessels that sailed out of the strait with no destination listed, according to Kpler analysis and tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform.
It was unclear what would happen if it continued further east towards the blockade line imposed by the US Navy.
Nearly two months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, there is still little sign of peace talks resuming.
Container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said on Friday that one of its ships had crossed the strait, but did not provide details on timing or conditions.
The Comoros-flagged supertanker Helga arrived at an offshore oil loading terminal at Iraq’s southern Basra port on Friday, the second vessel to reach Iraq since the strait’s disruption.
Iran’s use of fast boat swarms to seize two container ships near the strait last Wednesday has heightened concerns among shipping and oil companies.
“The latest seizures make clear that even an ‘open’ Strait of Hormuz is not a safe Strait of Hormuz for seafarers, ships and cargo,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at ocean and air freight intelligence platform Xeneta.
Between April 22 and early April 23, seven vessels transited the strait, six of which were linked to Iran-related trade, according to analysis from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The disruption has affected about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies and triggered a broader energy crisis.
Hundreds of ships and about 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Gulf, with war risk insurers and oil companies closely monitoring conditions for any sign that risks have eased enough to resume normal navigation.
