Hormuz ship transits fell to five on Sunday from 26 a day earlier after Iran again declared the strait closed, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.
The sharp drop hit one of the key routes for crude flows. However, the US military said commercial vessels were still operating. Reuters said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeated the closure declaration on Saturday and cited Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Kpler said three Very Large Crude Carriers were part of Sunday’s traffic. Each carried 2 million barrels of Saudi crude and fuel oil. Meanwhile, one of those ships was heading to Japan.
Hormuz Ship Transits and Tanker Flows
Kpler also said its data may miss ships that turn off transponders in the Gulf. Therefore, the full level of traffic may not appear in the figures.
Saturday traffic looked far higher. Reuters, citing Kpler, said three VLCCs carried crude from the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq that day. Additionally, three tankers moved oil products, and 13 ships entered the strait.
Gulf Producers Adjust Load Options
ADNOC and Kuwait Petroleum Corp have issued tenders with an option to load crude from outside the strait. That step points to efforts to guard against more disruption. Moreover, Reuters said Iran had lifted its effective blockade last week after agreeing with the United States to extend an April ceasefire for 60 days.
The latest Hormuz ship transits data showed a steep day-to-day fall as the closure threat returned.
You can access our other news on natural gas markets and global market developments here.
