Hormuz traffic drops after Saturday strike on vessel

Traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz slowed considerably over the weekend after a vessel was struck while transiting the waterway on Saturday. This incident occurred amid a fresh exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran, which had previously strained a preliminary deal to end their conflict.

Maritime tracking firm Kpler reported that only 12 commodity vessels transited the strait on Sunday. This marks a sharp decline from the previous week, when a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington had boosted traffic to its highest level since the start of the Middle East war, with 70 crossings recorded on Wednesday.

Despite Iran's warnings against using unapproved shipping lanes, vessels continued to use various routes. After Saturday's strike, ships utilized a southern corridor through Omani waters for several hours before traffic appeared to decrease, according to MarineTraffic. The website tracks vessels with active transponders, suggesting more ships may have passed undetected.

More vessels entered the Gulf over the weekend than departed, reversing a prior trend. This comes as a UN-led operation to evacuate seafarers was suspended after a vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman. Iran announced Monday it held its first meeting with Oman to discuss managing the strait, while the U.S. maintains it will not accept transit fees for the international waterway.