Ammon News - Commodity vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a single digit per day at the weekend, preliminary shiptracking ​data showed on Monday, well below a 10-day average of ‌14.

Over the weekend, four vessels exited the Gulf through the strait, including a Handysize vessel sailing in ballast, a Handy vessel carrying LPG, a Supramax carrying ​fertilizer and a Suezmax laden with crude or condensate.

Ten vessels entered ​the Gulf, including a mini-bulker carrying minor bulk commodities, ⁠a Handymax carrying grain, a Panamax carrying metals and a Supramax carrying ​dry bulk cargo, the data showed.

The figures exclude any vessels that might ​have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of ​Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said early on Sunday.

It ​said the crew's status, damage assessment and environmental impact were unknown.

Meanwhile, the vital East-West ‌oil ⁠pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which has helped relieve the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, was temporarily shut down by a drone attack coming from Iraq, Saudi officials said.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the ​strait typically handled ​about 125 large, ⁠commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20% of ​the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas ​supply.

A U.S. ⁠blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.

In the Bab el-Mandeb strait, 24 and 27 commodity ⁠vessels travelled ​through respectively on Saturday and Sunday, tracking ​data showed, compared with an average of around 27 ships over the last 10 days.


Reuters