In brief
After a week of tit‑for‑tat strikes between the US and Iran, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz plummeted from 47 ships a day to just 23 on Wednesday. The incidents came after an attack on three tankers that were following a US‑recommended route through Omani waters, sparking Iran’s claim that it must control the strait. Although a peace deal on 17 June promised safe passage and a reopening of the route, recent attacks have halted the use of the Omani corridor and renewed tensions over maritime routes.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply after a series of tit‑for‑tat strikes by the US and Iran following an attack on three tankers earlier this week.
Just 23 tankers and cargo ships crossed the critical Gulf waterway on Wednesday, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler, down from 47 a week before.
The three ships that were struck were using a US‑recommended route through Omani waters; Iran has insisted the only "safe" route is its own separate lane through Iranian waters.
For decades vessels have been given free passage through the strait, a conduit for more than a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies as well as fertiliser shipments and other vital goods.
Before the conflict began, an average of 138 ships crossed the strait each day, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a multinational maritime group that includes the US.
After the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran on 28 February, traffic fell to just a handful of ships per day.
Iran retaliated by attacking ships attempting to cross, laying mines, while the US responded with a blockade on all shipping to and from Iranian ports.
A de‑escalation deal signed on 17 June promised a re‑opening of the strait, with the US agreeing to lift its naval blockade and ease sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Following the agreement, overall traffic levels initially rose to a peak of 72 ships on 24 June.
However, after the recent attacks on three vessels, the number of ships using the US‑recommended Omani route has essentially ground to a halt, with no ships using it on Wednesday, down from just three the day before.
No ships used the route on Wednesday, falling from just three ships the day before, with an average of about ten a day in the week before the latest attacks.
Experts warn that the current round of strikes will follow a familiar pattern: a flare‑up between the US and Iran, a temporary rise and fall in shipping, and a new cycle of tensions if another ship is struck.
The memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the US on 17 June committed Tehran to use "its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days" and to negotiate with the Sultanate of Oman about future administration of the strait.
Critics say the agreement is vague and does not obligate Iran to honour free passage on a long‑term basis, while concerns about sea mines laid in the internationally recognised lanes and the Iranian war‑zone have held traffic back from pre‑war levels.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any interference with shipping routes would provoke a crushing response and "seriously disrupt the gradual reopening process."
