Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to its lowest level in more than two months after attacks on oil tankers passing through the vital waterway reached their highest level last week since the start of the American-Israeli war on Iran. Data from analytics firm Kpler showed that just 7 cargo vessels passed through the strait on Tuesday, the lowest figure since 23 July.
Decline in oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz
Kpler analysts Emmanuel Belostriano and Yui Torikata wrote in a note issued on 6 October that crude oil volumes passing through the strait had fallen by 27% from the highest level recorded during the war the previous week, reaching at least 10.1 million barrels per day.
The analysts said this volume represented a return to the average recorded in September, but amounted to only 74% of the pre-war level. They explained that most of the decline resulted from a reduction in ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman, where cargoes are transferred between vessels.
By contrast, exports from the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea coast rose to 6.7 million barrels per day, more than double their pre-war levels. Belostriano and Torikata said this increase offset the shortfall in supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz and helped keep total crude oil exports from the Middle East at pre-war levels.
Limited improvement in vessel traffic
Traffic improved slightly on Wednesday, when the number of vessels passing through rose to 10, but it remained well below the daily level recorded on Sunday and Monday, when the number exceeded 20 vessels each day. The number of vessels entering the strait also exceeded the number leaving it over the past two days.
These figures do not include vessels passing through the strait after switching off the transceivers of their automatic identification systems to avoid detection. Data from the London Stock Exchange Group showed that a total of 8 vessels passed through the strait the day before yesterday, divided equally between inbound and outbound vessels, compared with 14 vessels the previous day.
The vessels recorded in London Stock Exchange Group data included 5 oil tankers, along with the liquefied natural gas carrier Al Mufair. The carrier had been loaded at Ras Laffan in Qatar and was scheduled to head to Pakistan’s Port Qasim. The decline in traffic followed attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz reaching their highest level last week since the start of the war on Iran, according to specialist maritime security sources monitoring the incidents.
Tanker attacks prompt changes to export routes
This coincided with Gulf producers intensifying efforts to increase exports through other routes and ports. The UK Maritime Trade Operations authority announced yesterday that a tanker had come under attack by several projectiles off the coast of Qatar, saying the attack caused injuries.
The incident came amid a wave of attacks targeting shipping in the region and increasing the risks surrounding the passage of vessels and tankers. Before the war on Iran began on 28 February, about 125 large commercial vessels passed through the strait each day, including oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers and container ships. The cargoes carried by these vessels accounted for one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
In September, oil flows from the Gulf region, excluding Iran, recovered to more than 81% of pre-war levels, according to Vortexa data. The flows benefited from a recovery in Saudi exports despite attacks on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure and an escalation in Iranian attacks on shipping in the region.
