Number of ships transiting Strait of Hormuz falls to three on September 16, data shows

Vessel ⁠traffic dropped this week as war in the Gulf intensified. File | Photo Credit: AP Commodity vessel transits through ​the Strait of Hormuz dwindled to ‌just three ships on Wednesday (September 16, 2026), down ​from 12 a day ⁠earlier and well below the 10-day average of about 17, preliminary ship-tracking data showed ‌on Thursday (September 17, 2026).The figures exclude any vessels that might have passed through ‌the waterway with their ‌Automatic ⁠Identification System (AIS) transponders turned off to ⁠avoid detection.Of the three vessels, an empty Supramax dry bulk ship entered the Strait ​via the Iranian ‌route, while an empty petroleum product tanker entered through a dark route, shipping data from Kpler showed ‌at 0445 GMT.A Panamax tanker ​exited the waterway using a dark route, the data showed.Vessel ⁠traffic dropped this week as war in the Gulf intensified. Saudi Arabian ‌warplanes pounded Yemen and Houthi fighters launched drones and missiles at Saudi cities.The Iran-backed Houthis' rapid advance in Yemen along the Red Sea coast, attacks on Saudi Arabia ‌and damage to the kingdom's East-West oil ​pipeline have widened Tehran's reach in the conflict and raised ⁠risks to global oil supplies.In the ⁠Red Sea, vessel crossings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait eased to ‌21 on Wednesday (September 16), compared to 24 vessels a day earlier. Published - September 17, 2026 01:09 pm IST