Strait of Hormuz falls silent as just five ships get through

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a low level on August 31, with preliminary data indicating that only around five vessels passed through the waterway.

According to Reuters, citing data from Kpler, which tracks vessel movements using transponders and satellite data, the figure was largely unchanged from the weekend and remained significantly below the 10-day average of around 14 vessels.

On August 31, four vessels entered the strait and one exited. None of the vessels passing through was an oil tanker, the agency noted.

Among the vessels entering the strait was an empty Handy-class gas carrier travelling along the Iranian route, as well as three loaded bulk carriers.

Kpler’s data do not account for vessels transiting the strait with their transponders switched off.

By Jeyhun Aghazada