Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz surges as vessels increasingly use US-backed Oman route
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has climbed sharply over the past two weeks even as the standoff between the US and Iran continues
Nearly 200 ships navigated the Strait of Hormuz last week, up from 150 the previous week and just 40 two weeks earlier, according to data from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center. The surge brings total traffic along the route to about 20% of pre-war levels, through which roughly 20% of the world's seaborne oil flowed in peacetime.
More than 80% of liquid cargoes transiting the strait over the past two weeks have either taken the Omani route, a US-backed corridor authorized by the UN International Maritime Organization that Iran rejects, or gone "dark," likely slipping through the same corridor, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.
Over the past seven days, 103 ships entered the strait, and 89 exited, a 27% jump from the previous week, when 76 ships entered and 75 exited. Two weeks ago, just 18 ships entered, and 21 exited. "It increasingly looks like Iran has at least partially lost control of the strait," Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler, told CNN.
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Most vessels passing through were flagged to Panama and Liberia. About half of the ships were oil tankers, with the rest carrying dry cargo. Five vessels were struck by Iranian projectiles over the past week, leaving two people injured or dead, though the ships were damaged rather than lost. The US has been quietly shepherding oil tankers across Hormuz since May, using shadow fleet tactics such as disabling radars and navigating close to Oman's coast.
This comes as the 60-day window for talks to end the war has now closed, with negotiations over control of the strait continuing to stall. Earlier this week, President Trump said the strait had been fully de-mined and reopened, writing on Truth Social, "The Hormuz Strait is open and operating." He also announced plans to implement what he called the "most crushing economic operation ever undertaken" against Iran through new sanctions.
In response, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei threatened retaliation. "If Trump wants to take action, we will retaliate in an earthquake-like manner," Rezaei said in a televised interview, adding that countries joining the US in economic pressure against Iran would be treated as enemies.