Vessel transits through the strait of Hormuz remain 95pc down compared with before the start of the US-Iran war on 28 February, shipbroker Clarksons said today.
Transits through the strategic waterway have been running at just four each day over the week to 23 March, compared with around 125 each day before the conflict, Clarksons' research arm said today. Just 10 oil tankers carrying 12mn bl in total have exited the Mideast Gulf via the strait during the past week, compared with 250 vessels carrying around 300mn bl normally. The vessels on the move include a "trickle" of very large LPG carriers, with two recorded on 22 March and another two — both "Indian-linked" — passing through the strait on 23 March, a flow which is 80pc below normal levels before Iran threatened to attack any vessel using the waterway.
Around 1,100 vessels are currently inside the Mideast Gulf, Clarksons said, excluding local trading vessels. That total includes around 300 oil tankers, with 6pc of global crude tanker and 4pc of all product tanker tonnage, 4pc of very large gas carriers and 1pc of containerships and bulker tonnage.
Some 20pc of global oil supply passed through the strait of Hormuz before the US-Iran war started, including 37pc of seaborne crude oil and 19pc of seaborne products trade. And 19pc of global LNG trade also passed through the strait, Clarksons said, alongside 28pc of global LPG volumes, 13pc of seaborne petrochemicals, 4pc of dry bulk and 3pc of container trade volumes.
Clarksons said that crude exports from the Saudi Arabian port of Yanbu on the Red Sea are running at around 4mn b/d now, up from 1mn b/d before the war, with around 40 very large crude carriers (VLCC) either waiting there or on route.
