Iran to announce new shipping route in Strait of Hormuz

KABUL (Pajhwok): Iran says it will declare a new shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, as vessel traffic through the waterway has fallen to its lowest level since May, media reports said on Monday.
Al Jazeera reported that Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian official, said Tehran planned to establish a restricted zone near the Strait of Hormuz and would announce in the coming days a new shipping route agreed with Oman.
He said the route would be established under an understanding between Iran and Oman, with the aim of regulating vessel traffic through the waterway.
The report said Tehran and Muscat had previously agreed to establish a temporary route for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials said details of the new route and arrangements for ships to pass through it would be announced once the relevant arrangements had been finalised.
The decision comes as the Strait of Hormuz has witnessed increased maritime tensions in recent weeks, while commercial vessel traffic through the waterway has also declined.
Meanwhile, Reuters, citing data from shipping analytics company Kpler, reported that an average of only 10 cargo-carrying vessels had passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day over the past 10 days, the lowest level since May.
According to the data, the 10-day average of vessel traffic fell to 10 ships on Sunday, compared with more than 15 on Friday and nearly 13 on Saturday.
It added that only two vessels passed through the strait on Saturday and six on Sunday.
Kpler also said that no very large crude carriers (VLCCs) carrying crude oil had exited the Strait of Hormuz since Wednesday.
The decline in vessel traffic comes amid growing concerns about the safety of commercial shipping in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, through which a significant share of global oil and liquefied gas supplies passes.
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