Hormuz Shipping Traffic Remains Stuck in Single Digits

Tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains a fraction of pre-war levels, with four vessels traversing the waterway on Tuesday, down from seven the previous day, Reuters has reported, citing ship-tracking data.

The data does not include tankers that have turned off their geolocation devices, the publication noted. Meanwhile, Windward reported just one tanker entering the Strait of Hormuz on September 15^th—an oil product carrier.

Per the data cited by Reuters, two tankers entered the chokepoint on Tuesday, and two exited. None of the four were very large crude carriers or LNG carriers, Reuters noted. One carried liquefied petroleum gas, and another was loaded with naphtha. The 10-day moving average was 18, according to the publication.

Owners and energy exporters are becoming increasingly careful navigating through the Strait of Hormuz amid re-escalation of hostilities, strikes on tankers, and the relatively new threat from the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea, targeting Saudi shipments. The latest Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s vital East-West pipeline has led to crude oil loading cancelations from Yanbu.

Because of the attack, there are reports that Saudi Arabia is looking to raise shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, as the Houthis have expanded their control over the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Whether that would be possible in light of the latest crossing numbers is doubtful. Reports about the length of time it would take Aramco to fix the East-West pipeline range from a few days to several weeks.

The rate of tanker traffic via the Strait of Hormuz has been declining for a couple of weeks now, from 10-day moving averages of double digits to less than 10 over the past few days. Even if there are as many tankers crossing Hormuz in dark mode as there are tankers moving through it visible, rates remain severely subdued.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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