Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed significantly over the weekend after a commercial vessel was struck while passing through the strategic waterway on Saturday, while renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran placed additional strain on their preliminary agreement aimed at ending the conflict.
According to maritime tracking firm Kpler, a total of 29 commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, while only 12 crossings were recorded on Sunday.
The figures represent a sharp decline from activity recorded last week following the June 15 memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington. The agreement had boosted shipping activity to its highest level since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, with 70 vessel crossings recorded on Wednesday.
Although Iran warned vessels against using routes it had not authorised, ships continued to navigate through several channels across the strategic waterway during the weekend.
Following the attack on a vessel early Saturday, ships continued for several hours to use a southern shipping corridor through Omani waters before traffic noticeably slowed, according to MarineTraffic, a vessel-tracking platform owned by Kpler.
MarineTraffic only tracks ships with activated transponders, meaning additional vessels may have crossed the waterway without broadcasting their locations.
Data also showed that more ships entered the Gulf over the weekend than departed, reversing the pattern observed during the previous week when efforts were focused on evacuating thousands of stranded seafarers from the region.
A United Nations-led operation to evacuate about 11,000 seafarers was suspended on Thursday after another vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman.
According to a post on X by HFI Research, four oil tankers and one container vessel entered the Gulf through the southern Omani corridor on Sunday under escort by United States Navy warships.
No vessels were reported to have exited the Gulf through the same route on Sunday, according to Kpler.
The maritime tracking firm noted that overall crossing figures could increase as additional movements are verified retrospectively through satellite imagery and other monitoring systems.
Meanwhile, Iran announced on Monday that it had held its first meeting with Oman to discuss the future management of the Strait of Hormuz.
The development comes as Washington maintains that it will not accept any transit fees imposed on vessels using what the United States regards as an international waterway.
