Traffic via Strait of Hormuz falls to 11 ships July 12 after US-Iran attacks

Only 11 ships traversed the Strait of Hormuz on July 12, the lowest since June 14, after attacks hit the container ship GFS Galaxy and the US and Iran made retaliatory strikes, S&P Global Commodities at Sea said in a July 13 report.

The total included one LNG tanker, one general cargo ship, one Suezmax, four product tankers, three landing craft and one bulk carrier/Supramax, the CAS report said. The LNG tanker, the Al Hamra, chartered by ADNOC Gas, loaded LNG at Das Island in the UAE and is headed for Khor Fakkan, UAE, according to CAS data.

ADNOC Gas did not respond to a request for official comment from Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, on July 13.

No ships were spotted heading into the Persian Gulf on July 12 for the first time since June 12, CAS said. While Iran declared the strait closed on July 12, the US Navy-backed Joint Maritime Information Center countered that the southern route by Oman through Hormuz was still open and expanded to facilitate two-way traffic.

Traffic was down from 32 ships on July 10 and 30 on July 11, with oil, chemical, LPG and LNG tankers making up 48% of the total over the three days over July 10-12, CAS said. The Greek-owned Suezmax Imola and South Korea's Sinokor-operated VLCCs Argentina B and Rotterdam Energy all crossed Hormuz heading into the Persian Gulf on July 11, CAS said.

Inbound tanker capacity is shrinking, CAS said. An average of 6.5 million barrels/day of new oil and LPG tanker capacity entered the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz over July 1-12, with VLCCs and Suezmaxes accounting for nearly 80% of the total, it said. That fell to 6 million b/d over July 10-12, compared with 8.5 million b/d in the first week of July, CAS said.

Iran-linked and US-sanctioned ships represented nearly 60% of all crossings over July 10-12, CAS said.