Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to just 11 ships on July 12, marking the lowest daily count since June 14, according to a July 13 report from S&P Global Commodities at Sea. The decline followed attacks on the container ship GFS Galaxy and subsequent retaliatory strikes between the United States and Iran.
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The vessel tally included one LNG tanker, one general cargo ship, one Suezmax, four product tankers, three landing craft, and one bulk carrier or Supramax, the report stated. The LNG tanker Al Hamra, chartered by ADNOC Gas, loaded LNG at Das Island in the United Arab Emirates and was heading for Khor Fakkan in the UAE, based on data from Commodities at Sea. ADNOC Gas did not respond to a request for official comment from Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, on July 13.
For the first time since June 12, no ships were observed entering the Persian Gulf on July 12, the report noted. Iran declared the strait closed on July 12, but the US Navy-backed Joint Maritime Information Center countered that the southern route near Oman through Hormuz remained open and had been expanded to allow two-way traffic.
Traffic decreased from 32 ships on July 10 and 30 on July 11, with oil, chemical, LPG, and LNG tankers accounting for 48% of the total over the three-day period from July 10 to 12, according to the report. The Greek-owned Suezmax Imola and the South Korean Sinokor-operated VLCCs Argentina B and Rotterdam Energy all crossed Hormuz heading into the Persian Gulf on July 11.
Inbound tanker capacity was shrinking, the report said. An average of 6.5 million barrels per day of new oil and LPG tanker capacity entered the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz from July 1 to 12, with VLCCs and Suezmaxes representing nearly 80% of that total. That figure fell to 6 million barrels per day over July 10 to 12, compared with 8.5 million barrels per day in the first week of July.
Iran-linked and US-sanctioned ships accounted for nearly 60% of all crossings from July 10 to 12, the report added.
