KABUL (Pajhwok): Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply following attacks on several oil tankers, while talks between the United States and Iran to end ongoing tensions in the Middle East have also reached an impasse, a media report said on Monday.
The Internationale website, citing Reuters, reported that according to data from ship-tracking company Kpler, only five commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, while no vessel movements were recorded in the company’s tracking system on Sunday.
It said 31 vessels had passed through the strait during the previous week.
Among the vessels that entered the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday were a very large crude oil tanker that was empty and had its automatic identification system switched off, and a very large liquefied natural gas carrier flying the Indian flag. The latter vessel used the Iranian side of the waterway.
Kpler data also showed that a small Iranian fuel-oil tanker left the strait.
Shipping traffic through the waterway has almost come to a halt after the United Arab Emirates said three vessels operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company had come under attack while passing through the strait last week.
The United States has said it could maintain its naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.
The report added that some vessels may have passed through the waterway with their identification systems switched off. However, before the US-Israeli war against Iran began in February, more than 130 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day, according to the report.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told domestic media on Saturday that Washington would have to accept Iran’s conditions regarding the strait for shipping traffic to resume.
Before the war, around one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the report said.
Meanwhile, Kpler data showed that shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait had also declined, with 49 commercial vessels passing through the route last weekend, compared with 55 the previous week.
Yemen’s Houthi movement announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20, and according to the report, no Saudi oil cargoes have been recorded in the tracking data since then.
kk
