Ships continued to cross the Strait of Hormuz Monday, though the number broadcasting their passage dropped, as some companies said vessel attacks over the weekend had made them less confident about navigation.
The US said that Iran attacked an oil tanker on Saturday, just a few days after a container ship was struck by a projectile. The incidents happened in a stretch of water near Oman’s coast through which American forces have been coordinating transits. A military liaison with shipping said Sunday that there had been no interruption in US-assisted navigation, even if traffic dipped “slightly.”
Also read: Why India stayed resilient through the Hormuz crisis
The risk tolerance of tanker companies and their crews is critical to returning the global oil market to normal and unlocking millions of barrels of supply. Speaking privately, officials from five owners said they deemed transit as less safe following the two recent attacks — although others said there had been no material change in their analysis.
The US and Iran also agreed to stop attacking each other while peace negotiations are going on, offering hope that vessels could be safe too.
The drop in traffic is in visible flows where vessels have their transponders turned on, showing where they are. But one Saudi Arabian supertanker and three of the nation’s bulk commodity carriers popped up in the Gulf of Oman early on Monday, an indication that they went through Hormuz with their signals off in recent hours, vessel-tracking data show.
Over the weekend, a handful of vessels made open transits, including two empty supertankers entering the Persian Gulf and a French-flagged container ship. That included some that went through after the latest tanker attack. Even with the decline in signals, visible traffic is still higher than for most of the US-Iran war.
