Strait of Hormuz traffic falls off sharply as ceasefire wobbles

Eight vessels transited the contested Strait of Hormuz April 19, a drop of roughly two-thirds from the day before, S&P Global Commodities At Sea said in an April 20 report.

Many ships approaching the strait turned back April 19, CAS said, in response to shots being fired at multiple ships and Iranian insistence that the narrow waterway was closed to commercial traffic.

At least 39 vessels moved toward the Strait of Hormuz to make an exit before turning back April 18. That includes the Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav, two Indian-flagged tankers that were reportedly attacked by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps while attempting to exit the strait, the CAS report said.

"Some vessels reversed course near the Omani coast while others did so closer to Iran," CAS said.

On April 18, 29 vessels had passed through the narrow waterway, including several LPG tankers, following comments from Iran's foreign minister that the Strait of Hormuz was open.

"Of the vessels that successfully exited the strait on April 18, five are tankers in the compliant fleet," CAS wrote, referring to tankers that are not sanctioned. Crude tankers carrying Qatar Marine, Saudi Arabia's Arab Medium grade, and the UAE's Das Blend grade all exited the Strait of Hormuz. Tankers carrying products from the UAE and Bahrain also left the strait.

As the US and Iran continue to impose their own blockades on the Strait of Hormuz, four Iranian-linked tankers also exited the strait April 18. The US opened fire on one Iran-linked vessel in the early hours of April 19 for breaching its blockade, but CAS data show that 14 of the vessels that have left the Strait of Hormuz have sailed beyond the US blockade line.

US Central Command has said that American forces have instructed 25 vessels to return to an Iranian port or turn back toward the strait.

Twelve of those ships have no known links to Iran and had not called at any Iranian ports. Two bulk carriers, both ballast, called at Iran's Bandar Iman Khomeini port before moving beyond the US blockade.