Ankara: Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply after Iran announced that the strategic waterway had been closed again amid renewed tensions with the US. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that the strait would remain closed until further notice due to an unstable security environment caused by foreign intervention.
According to Anadolu Agency, the IRGC emphasized that the waterway would only reopen if the US military ceased its interventions in the strait and respected the sovereignty of coastal states over their territorial waters. Additionally, Iranian forces reportedly intercepted two vessels attempting unauthorized passage.
The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, has launched its third round of strikes against Iran this week following Iranian forces opening fire on a commercial vessel transiting the strait. Before the onset of the US-Israel war with Iran on February 28, an average of about 130 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz daily. During the conflict, traffic plummeted over 90% but later recovered to an average of more than 70 daily crossings after a June 14 agreement between Washington and Tehran.
Renewed hostilities and fresh attacks on commercial vessels have sharply reversed that recovery. Data obtained by Anadolu from analytics firm Kpler indicated that only 14 commercial vessels crossed the strait on Sunday. These included the Humanity, carrying around 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, the Burg Star, loaded with 500,000 barrels of dirty petroleum products, and the Capetan Andreas, carrying another 500,000 barrels of dirty petroleum products from Kuwait.
The Minoan Courage, traveling from Saudi Arabia to India with a suspected fertilizer cargo, was also among the vessels that crossed the waterway. Most of the other ships were estimated to be sailing without cargo. Traffic had already declined prior to Iran's closure announcement, with 24 commercial vessels crossing on July 11 and 20 vessels on July 10. The highest daily traffic level recorded after the US-Iran agreement was 76 vessels on June 24.
Oil shipments through the strategic waterway had increased following the agreement. However, after the renewed closure, crude oil trade through the strait was limited to Iranian exports.