Strait of Hormuz ship traffic climbs after war deal: trackers

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose to its highest rate in two months after a deal to halt the US-Iran war, maritime trackers said on Friday.

A total of 25 commercial vessels crossed the newly reopened strait on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from tracking firm AXSMarine.

The spike came after Iran and the United States agreed this week to re-open the crucial route under an agreement to end the war, but before the postponement of talks between the sides in Switzerland that had been planned for Friday under that deal.

On June 18, “we observed 25 verified commercial vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz — the highest single-day count since 18 April and more than five times the average daily level recorded during the first ten days of June”, AXSMarine said in a news release.

Iranian forces effectively closed off the strait after US and Israeli strikes sparked the war on February 28. Maritime authorities reported dozens of attacks on ships in the area.

Iran later briefly re-opened the global trade artery to commercial traffic, prompting a short peak in crossings on April 18.

Before the war, about 120 vessels a day passed through the strait, according to shipping journal Lloyd’s List.

A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports passed through the strait in peacetime, according to economists.

AXSMarine said crossings averaged 7.6 a day from the start of March.

The number of crossings on Thursday may be higher, as some ships turn off or manipulate their AIS transponder signals to avoid detection while passing through the strait.

Thursday’s “spike came amid the largest AIS signal disruption event we have observed in the Persian Gulf since the conflict began, with more than 200 commercial vessels affected simultaneously by spoofing or abnormal AIS behaviour”, it said.

 Safe shipping plans

The signing of the agreement to stop the war this week was also meant to halt fighting in Lebanon, but Israel’s military announced on Friday new strikes there.

Meanwhile, shipping groups warned this week that plans to resume traffic through the strait were still not clear and it was not thought safe to start exiting the Gulf through.

Jakob Larsen, chief security officer at shipping lobby BIMCO, said however that the body “expects an international coordination body to be established shortly to facilitate transits”.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) chief Arsenio Dominguez said in April that the body was working on a plan to ensure safe transit for ships out of the Gulf.

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More than 500 commercial vessels and about 11,000 seafarers are still stuck in the Gulf, according to the IMO. It says 20,000 seafarers in the region have been affected by the war overall.

The closure of the strait during the war drove up global oil prices and choked off shipments of energy and crucial commodities such as fertiliser.

Following the Iran-US agreement announced on June 14, “the first sign of relief came this week with fast falling prices”, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at banking group Swissquote.

“Energy and transport sectors will be the first to feel the relief, before it spills toward the rest of the economy,” she told AFP.

“But questions remain regarding the US ability to end the war without Israel’s willingness to participate.”