Strait of Hormuz Tanker Traffic Hits Five-Week Low Amid Escalation

Following a third wave of U.S. strikes and subsequent Iranian retaliation across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Jordan, shipping activity has essentially frozen. Data from Kpler confirms that no LNG carriers attempted the passage over the weekend, while the few vessels that did transit included a single supertanker carrying Iranian crude and a handful of oil product haulers.

Risk-averse operators have returned to the practice of disabling AIS transponders to navigate the Strait unobserved. Maritime intelligence firm Windward reported at least eight "dark" vessels operating in the region’s eastern approaches as of July 12, with some engaged in ship-to-ship transfers off the coasts of the UAE and Oman. This shift reverses a brief period of transparency that followed recent diplomatic efforts to stabilize regional flows, signaling that commercial insurers and vessel owners now view the route as a primary theater of conflict.