Hormuz Traffic Drops to Five-Week Low as All Six Transiting Ships Go Dark

Six ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. Not one broadcast its position.

All six transited with their AIS transponders switched off, according to preliminary Kpler data analysed by Bloomberg News. It was the lowest number of transits recorded in five weeks, a figure that reflects just how sharply commercial shipping has pulled back from one of the world's most critical choke points.

Two of the six were loaded on the way out. The VLCC Humanity carried around two million barrels of Iranian oil. Capetan Andreas left with roughly 500,000 barrels of Kuwaiti oil products. Three empty ships moved the other way, heading into the Gulf to load.

That brings the full tally for the day to six. On a normal day before the current crisis, dozens of ships would cross in both directions.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it stopped two ships in the strait Sunday night by shutting down their onboard systems. The Guard did not identify them.

The day's near-silence follows three rounds of US airstrikes on Iranian military sites and continued Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. Iran struck the container ship GFS Galaxy on July 11, disabling its engine room and leaving one crew member unaccounted for. That attack caused Iran to declare the strait closed. US forces have maintained that transit rights remain in effect and that a southern corridor is open.

The gap between those two positions is now visible on tracking charts. Ships are not taking chances.