The flow of ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz has dramatically decreased, now averaging just seven vessels daily. This marks a significant drop to merely 5% of the usual traffic before the conflict with Iran, as Tehran takes full command of this essential maritime route.
In the aftermath of the joint US-Israeli military actions against Iran on February 28, the Iranian government sealed off the Strait of Hormuz. This decision left over 2,000 ships immobilized in waters that once facilitated the passage of approximately 130 ships each day.
Since the closure, only a limited number of ships have been allowed to navigate the strait daily, with recent figures showing a peak of five to seven ships per day, as reported by Bloomberg.
This week’s traffic has been consistent, with maritime tracking data indicating that at least six ships passed through on both Monday and Tuesday. These vessels are primarily fuel tankers and bulk carriers associated with Iran and China.
From February 28 to March 31, a total of 292 ships managed to traverse the Strait of Hormuz. Notably, 71% of these vessels are under Iranian ownership or are part of its so-called “shadow fleet,” according to data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
Vessels from the shadow fleet have represented a significant 88% of all crossings over the past week, showing an increase from the week before, as indicated by Lloyd’s data.
Chinese ships have accounted for about 10% of the traffic, underscoring the financial ties between Tehran and Beijing.
Iran has gone as far as demanding that payments for passage through the Strait of Hormuz be paid in China’s yuan currency, or through stable cryptocurrencies.
Iran has also allowed dozens of ships linked to India and Pakistan to pass through following negotiations with the countries, with New Delhi heavily relying on gas exports that go through the Strait of Hormuz.
For its part, Pakistan said it had reached a deal for two of its ships to pass through the strait every day for 10 days.
Lloyd’s analysts have warned that Iran has effectively created a “toll booth” system where Tehran collects fees from other ships trying to get through despite repeated threats from President Trump.
After Iran’s lawmakers approved a bill to impose fees on the safe passage through the strait this week, new guidelines have been set for ships to buy their way through, sources familiar with the deal told Bloomberg.
The new rules would force ships to go through a detailed background check to ensure they have no links to the US or Israel, according to the outlet.
If the background check is passed, the parties then negotiate the price of passage, with oil tankers seeing the starting price at around $1 per barrel of crude, which must be paid in yuan or stable cryptocurrencies.
For a very large crude carrier (VLCC), which carries up to 2 million barrels, that price could equate to $2 million for passage.
