Weekend Hormuz traffic thins to fewer than 20 vessels, Kpler data shows
The weekend’s sub-20 vessel count is a sharp step down even by the standards of a strait already operating under dual blockade, and it lands the same day Bessent is due to unveil the toughest US sanctions yet on Iran and hours after Rezaei threatened to halt all Gulf oil exports entirely. Traders should weigh the headline transit figure against last week’s reporting that more than 80% of liquid cargo through the strait over a prior two week period either used the Omani route or moved with transponders switched off, and that a US-organised corridor along Oman’s coast has helped move roughly 10 million barrels a day, together with a cumulative total of more than 660 million barrels shipped through the strait since early May. That gap between visible transponder-based counts and actual flow means the low weekend number likely overstates the real disruption to physical supply, even as it reinforces the risk premium embedded in Brent and WTI. With Rezaei’s export halt threat now sitting alongside a shrinking visible transit count, the setup favours continued elevated volatility rather than a clean directional signal until clearer data on the Omani corridor’s current throughput becomes available.
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Visible Hormuz traffic just sank to its lowest in weeks, but last week’s reporting on a covert Omani corridor suggests the real picture may be less stark.
Summary:
- Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to initial shiptracker Kpler data cited by Reuters.
- Four vessels crossed the strait Sunday and 13 on Saturday, with the figures subject to revision since some ships had switched off transponders during transit.
- Iranian and US blockades continue to restrict traffic through the waterway, one of the world’s most important chokepoints for energy shipments.
- Last week’s reporting found more than 80% of liquid cargo transiting the strait over a prior two-week period either used the Omani route or traveled with transponders off.
- The US military has been running a corridor along Oman’s coast helping move about 10 million barrels of oil a day, and has said it has helped transport more than 660 million barrels of crude through the strait since early May.
- The low weekend transit count comes as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepares to announce the toughest US sanctions yet on Iran, and after Iran’s SNSC secretary Mohsen Rezaei threatened to halt all Gulf oil exports if the economic pressure campaign continues.
Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, shipping data showed Monday, as Iranian and US blockades continue to restrict traffic through the critical energy chokepoint, Reuters reported. Initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed four vessels crossing the strait on Sunday and 13 on Saturday, though the figures could change given that some ships had switched off transponders during their passage.
The weekend count adds a fresh data point to an already contested picture of who actually controls flow through the strait. Reporting last week found that more than 80% of liquid cargo transiting Hormuz over a prior two-week period either used the Omani route along the southern side of the strait or traveled with transponders switched off, a pattern shipping analysts said pointed to Iran having lost significant control over traffic despite its blockade. The US military has been quietly operating a corridor along the Omani coast for several weeks, helping move about 10 million barrels of oil a day, with 15 to 20 tankers entering and leaving the strait nightly through a southern channel coordinated by a task force run from Fort Bragg. US officials have said the operation has helped transport more than 660 million barrels of crude through the strait since early May, and President Trump has previously described the broader US naval blockade of Iran as fully effective.
The low visible transit count therefore sits awkwardly alongside those earlier claims, and likely reflects the extent to which shipping is now moving outside standard transponder tracking rather than a genuine collapse in physical flow. Iran, for its part, has continued to assert authority over the waterway through its own mechanisms, including a parliamentary bill approved last week allowing fees to be charged on vessels for navigation, environmental, fueling, insurance and safety services, and warnings from its Persian Gulf Strait Authority that vessels violating its declared transit arrangements face fines, seizure or confiscation.
The weekend figures also land at a pointed moment in the wider standoff. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due Monday to announce what he has called the toughest sanctions in history against Iran, part of the economic campaign President Trump has termed an economic D-Day. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, warned over the weekend that if the pressure campaign continues, Iran would halt all oil exports through the strait and the wider Persian Gulf, and that any country cooperating with the US sanctions would be treated as an act of war. Whether the reduced weekend vessel count reflects genuine tightening ahead of that threat, further concealment of actual traffic, or simple weekend scheduling variance is not yet clear from the available shipping data.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.