Strait Of Hormuz Traffic Falls Drastically After Attack On 5 Commodity Tankers Over The Weekend

Strait of Hormuz ship traffic has fallen drastically after attacks on five commodity tankers, while U.S-Iran negotiations to reach a peace agreement and end the war remain stalled.

The five tankers tried to cross the strategic waterway on Saturday, and none were registered for transit on Sunday, compared to 31 last weekend.

The vessels included an empty Very Large Crude Carrier that tried to sneak past by turning off its Automatic Identification System, and an Indian-flagged Very Large Gas Carrier that sailed on the route authorised by Iran.  A tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil left the Strait over the weekend.

United Arab Emirates said that 3 vessels operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were targeted in transit last week.

In response to these attacks in Hormuz, the U.S has said that it can maintain its naval blockade of Iranian Ports indefinitely to pressure the Islamic Republic.

A few vessels might have passed undetected with their transponders off, but the numbers are far from the over 130 ships a day which crossed Hormuz before the U.S-Iran war began in February.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a recent interview that the U.S has to meet Iran’s conditions regarding Hormuz for shipping operations to resume normally in the waterway, which handles one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas.

Iran has used the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining ground in the war, which started after the U.S and Israel attacked Iran in February.

While Iran restricts passage of Western-linked ships or those with connections to the U.S, Israel and its allies, ships sailing under flags of Iran’s friends like China and allies like Pakistan have been given access to transit the waterway unharmed.

Hormuz has also become one of the most dangerous places across the globe when it comes to shipping as threats from sea mines continue, along with a sudden attack from either Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps or the U.S naval forces.