Vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz remained constrained over the weekend and through the start of this week, despite the pause in attacks between the US and Iran.
Hormuz Vessel traffic on 27 July totaled six vessels, evenly split between inbound and outbound transits, and all along the northern, Iran-favored traffic routing, according to data from vessel tracking service Windward.
On 26 July, five vessels transited the strait outbound and two vessels inbound, all on northern routes, Windward data shows.
Over the weekend traffic through the strait as recorded by Windward fell to its lowest level since the breakdown of the June memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran that paused fighting, with only one outbound crossing detected on the northern Iranian route on 25 July.
Other sources claim more ship traffic from 26-27 July. "US-assisted" strait of Hormuz transits reached 26 vessels over the two-day period, according to data from the UK Trade Maritime Organization (UKTMO) and the US Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS), which liaises between military and civil authorities. NCAGS has not yes responded to request for details on the transits.
In the same advisory note, released 28 July, UKTMO said that "over the last 72 hours, strait of Hormuz traffic continued at reduced levels, with no sustained increase along the southern Omani corridor".
The US continues to enforce its blockade of traffic to and from Iranian ports just outside the strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X on 28 July that it had redirected 18 commercial vessels, boarded two and disabled two more as part of the blockade since its resumption on 14 July after the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire.
US forces said they disabled the very large gas carrierLavine on 24 July. That vessel, which also operated under the name Disha, was under sanctions by the US, according to vessel information firm TankerTrackers.com. On 25 July, US forces boarded the Charminar,an MR2 tanker,to ensure it was compliant with the blockade.
