No vessels exited the strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours, following increased Iranian enforcement action including an attack on an oil tanker traveling within the US-supported southern transit corridor near the Omani coast.
A total of four vessels entered the strait of Hormuz on 24 August, including three vessels on the northern transit lane and one tanker on the southern lane with no outbound transits recorded, according to maritime security firm Windward. The amount of vessel traffic on the southern lane in particular has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks with the US claiming higher amounts of traffic through the waterway than can be corroborated independently.
There may have been at least one other vessel transit via the southern lane that was aborted after an oil tanker was hit off the coast of Oman, disabling the vessel but leaving the crew uninjured, according to the UK Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO). Meanwhile, Iran's newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority's declaration of 46 vessels as non-compliant is raising concerns that more shipowners may choose to avoid Mideast Gulf trades altogether.
The strike is likely to be an enforcement action by the Iranians who are seeking to consolidate their control over traffic through the strait of Hormuz by attacking vessels on their non-preferred transit lanes. Iranian attacks on vessels traveling near Oman have accounted for 14 out of the 16 projectile strike incidents on commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz reported since 6 July, per UKMTO.
Traffic through the strait of Hormuz since the breakout of the war at the end of February has largely been bifurcated between the northern Iranian-controlled lane and the southern, US-assisted transit lane, with the center lane used prior to the conflict believed by shippers to be mined. US president Donald Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that "all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz" warning Iran not to place new mines citing a "Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect."
But shippers avoiding Iran's northern corridor will likely remain concentrated on Omani coastline transits as long as Iranian attacks continue even if the center of the strait was totally demined just given the increased distance from drone and missile launch sites.
Meanwhile, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on 24 August arrived in Tehran, where Iran and Oman are currently holding talks on the strait of Hormuz. Iran and Oman engaged in negotiations at the start of August on management of vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz which would give Iran complete oversight on vessels entering the Mideast Gulf, which prompted the international shipping community to express concern that proposed plan would fall short of the principles of freedom of navigation.
