Commercial ship traffic through Strait of Hormuz rebounds to over 20% of pre-war level

The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global trade and energy flows, had come to a near standstill after the US-Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28.

Before the war started, around 130 commercial vessels passed through the strait daily. During the conflict, that figure fell to as low as one vessel on some days, while the daily average over 100 days of war stood at about 10 vessels. This pointed to a decline of up to 95% compared to pre-war levels.

According to information compiled by Anadolu from data analytics firm Kpler and MarineTraffic, 144 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz after the 14-point memorandum between the US and Iran, which includes reopening the waterway.

The number of vessels passing through the strait stood at 30 on June 18; 19 on June 19; 35 on June 20; 21 on June 21, and 39 on June 22.

The five-day average reached nearly 29 vessels per day, equivalent to slightly more than 20% of the pre-war level.

Tankers carrying Iranian oil stood out among the vessels that crossed the strait on Monday. At least four supertankers carrying a combined minimum of 7 million barrels of Iranian crude oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz that day.

Over the last five days, more than 13 million barrels of Iranian crude oil crossed the waterway and moved toward international buyers.

During the same period, there was also a significant increase in crude oil tankers loaded in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates passing through the strait.

As of 0930GMT on Tuesday, five commercial vessels had crossed the strait.

Among them were the Universal Glory, carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, and the Monte Urbasa, loaded with around 1 million barrels. Both tankers departed from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura port and passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The Universal Glory is sailing toward South Korea, while the Monte Urbasa is headed to India.

The tankers are understood to have been among the loaded vessels waiting in the Persian Gulf during the war, with full cargoes now positioning to exit the region through the strait.

US-Iran technical talks on memorandum in Switzerland

The first round of talks between Iran and the US, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, was held in Switzerland on Sunday.

The negotiations focused on technical details related to the implementation of the 14-point memorandum.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministries of Qatar and Pakistan said the parties agreed to establish a high-level committee to oversee the political aspects of mediation efforts under the memorandum.

The parties also agreed on a roadmap aimed at reaching a final agreement within 60 days.

Following the first round of talks, technical negotiations produced an agreement on mechanisms for implementing the memorandum. The parties also decided to establish working groups on sanctions relief, nuclear issues, reconstruction, and economic development.