Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely paralyzed, but a small number of vessels with Iranian or Chinese links have continued to transit, including two sanctioned Iranian VLCCs seen exiting the Persian Gulf for Asia early Wednesday with drafts indicating they were fully laden.
Bloomberg vessel-tracking data identified eight commercial transits on Tuesday and four more early Wednesday, a modest pickup after traffic was effectively halted following attacks on merchant ships during Iran’s retaliation against US and Israeli strikes.
The visible activity remains concentrated in vessels tied to Iran or carrying Chinese commercial links rather than a broad-based return of mainstream Western shipping.
The clearest outbound movement came from the tanker segment. As much as 13.7 million barrels of Iranian crude has moved through the strait since the war began on Feb. 28, according to Tankertrackers.com. Early Wednesday’s two sanctioned Iranian VLCC departures added to evidence that Iranian oil exports are still finding passage even as the wider tanker market remains constrained by missile, drone, and maritime attack risk.
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Bloomberg’s outbound transit chart shows outbound traffic peaking near 50 vessels a day in late February before collapsing to low single digits by Mar. 2 and staying there through early Mar. 11.
The inbound side shows the same pattern as traffic ran above 40 visible vessels in late February, then fell to roughly 20 by Feb. 28 and nearly zero by Mar. 3.
Tuesday’s outbound convoy included five bulk carriers, one containership, and one LPG carrier, all linked either to Iran or to Chinese commercial interests. On the inbound side, one Iran-affiliated containership entered the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and another did so on Wednesday. A bulk carrier also entered on Wednesday while signaling “China Owner All Chinese.”
This follows after a cargo ship Mayuree Naree was hit by an unknown projectile while transiting Hormuz which led to another bulk carrier signaling “China Owner&Crew” turning away from the strait after the incident.
Security conditions worsened further on Tuesday when US President Donald Trump confirmed the destruction of 10 Iranian mine-laying vessels. Even with that action, maritime security has not recovered enough to unfreeze broader industry tonnage. Most commercial ships remain stranded on either side of the waterway awaiting safer conditions.
Information for this briefing was found via Bloomberg and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
