Shipping traffic via Strait of Hormuz stays below 10-day average, data shows

SINGAPORE: Four commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf on Thursday, down from six a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 16, preliminary shipping data showed on Friday.

The figures could change as some ships typically switch off their transponders during the voyage to avoid the risk of detection in the conflict zone.

Of the four vessels, three were entering the strait heading into the Gulf and one was exiting, the data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT.

The vessels included two Panamax tankers, one Supramax ship and one Kamsarmax vessel.

The waterway carried a fifth of the world’s oil and gas before the Iran conflict.

Meanwhile, 23 commodity vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, another maritime chokepoint on the southwest tip of Yemen and a vital trade route for oil between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The data showed 13 vessels heading towards the Red Sea and 10 towards the Gulf of Aden. They included a Panamax and a Suezmax tanker, four Supramax vessels and six Aframax tankers.

The number compares with an average of around 26 ships using the strait in the past 10 days.

The Iran-backed Houthis have seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline since last week, prompting the Saudi Arabian air force to conduct airstrikes.

The spread of the war to Yemen and Saudi Arabia has raised new concerns about oil supplies by jeopardising the Red Sea route for exports, the main alternative for Gulf supplies while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is constrained.