Strait of Hormuz traffic hits record low of one ship on Aug. 16

Only one ship crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 16, down from eight ships on Aug. 15 and marking a record low, while Bab al-Mandab traffic slipped to 37 ships from 40 ships over the same period, S&P Global Commodities at Sea said in an Aug. 17 report.

The sole ship to cross Hormuz Aug. 16 was the MR tanker Lubna, which was acquired by Saudi Arabia's National Chemical Carriers in June, CAS said.

The Lubna moved inbound from the Gulf of Oman without visible signals and was last observed off Musandam, Oman, on Aug. 17 with an indicated destination of Mina Saqr in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, according to CAS. Bahri and SABIC, which jointly own National Chemical Carriers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The US Navy-backed Joint Maritime Information Center has reported three ship attacks in the Hormuz area over the past 72 hours as of Aug. 16.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website Aug. 15 that a "hostile Iranian attack" had targeted an ADNOC-affiliated ship while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The incident followed two other ADNOC-affiliated ship attacks reported on Aug. 14 and one on Aug. 8, according to the foreign ministry.

Total crossings through the US naval blockade line came to 37 ships on Aug. 16 and 53 ships on Aug. 15, CAS said.

For Bab al-Mandab, traffic included the Pakistani Aframax tanker Mardan, which moved southbound through the strait on Aug. 16, after loading Saudi crude from Yanbu two days earlier, CAS said.

The VLCC He Ping Hai moved northbound through the strait on Aug. 14, potentially on its way to load Saudi crude, CAS said.