Hormuz traffic dips to lowest since May after US, Iranian strikes on ships

STRAIT. Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026. REUTERS The risk for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is now considered extreme, with multiple incidents of projectile strikes reported since July The average number of commodity ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz has dropped to 10 per day, the lowest since May, following US and Iranian military actions against tankers. Recent attacks by US forces on Iranian oil tankers and retaliatory strikes by the IRGC have escalated tensions, with commercial vessels increasingly caught in the conflict. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. An average of 10 commodity ships transited the Strait of Hormuz per day over the past 10 days, the lowest since May, according to shipping data on Monday, September 7, after US and Iranian strikes on tankers. The 10-day moving average was 10 on Sunday, September 6, down from more than 15 on Friday and nearly 13 on Saturday, data from analytics firm Kpler found. Only two vessels passed through the strait on Saturday while six went through on Sunday, mostly using the Iranian route. US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, US Central Command said, including one off Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub, following attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on US warships in the region. In retaliation, the IRGC navy said on Saturday it targeted three oil tankers travelling unauthorized routes in the strait as well as three additional US vessels in other areas. The three Iranian tankers were Downy, Stark I and Kylo, also known as Noxen, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said in a note. The Saturday attacks represented a “major escalation in the maritime conflict”, Marisks said. “Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” it added. “Risk is therefore assessed as extreme for Iranian/Iran-linked tonnage and materially elevated for US-linked or US-escorted shipping throughout the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.” There have been 27 projectile strike incidents since July 6, resulting in damage to vessels operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in its weekly report. On Sunday, one very large crude carrier and three bulk carriers laden with metals, grains or oilseeds entered the strait, Kpler data showed. A tanker carrying refined products loaded from a Saudi port attempted to exit but was turned back, data from LSEG showed. There has been no VLCC exiting the strait since Wednesday, according to Kpler data. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading