Hormuz traffic nearly dries up as only four vessels transit in 24 hours

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to four vessels on September 15, down from seven a day earlier, Reuters reports, citing preliminary shipping statistics.

The figure was significantly below the 10-day average of 18 vessels per day. Of the four vessels, two were outbound from the Persian Gulf, and two were inbound. None were VLCC supertankers or liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

The vessels departing the Gulf included the Salute gas carrier, which was carrying around 470,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas, and the Panamax-class Nautilus tanker, carrying around 510,000 barrels of naphtha. The two inbound vessels were an SR-class refined-products tanker and a dry bulk carrier.

At the same time, some vessels continue to transit the strait with their AIS transponders switched off, meaning they do not appear in publicly available databases.

Meanwhile, 22 vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on September 15, compared with 24 a day earlier.

By Jeyhun Aghazada