LONDON — Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend after a vessel was struck while transiting the waterway and renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran heightened tensions despite a preliminary agreement to end the conflict.
Maritime tracking firm Kpler recorded 29 commodity vessel crossings on Saturday and 12 on Sunday, down from last week when traffic reached 70 crossings on Wednesday after Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding on June 15.
Despite Iran’s warning against using unapproved shipping lanes, vessels continued to navigate multiple routes through the strait during the weekend.
After a vessel was struck Saturday morning while transiting the waterway, ships continued to use a southern corridor through Omani waters for several hours before traffic slowed, according to MarineTraffic, a website owned by Kpler.
MarineTraffic tracks vessels with active transponders, meaning additional ships may have crossed the strait without transmitting their positions.
More vessels entered the Gulf over the weekend than departed, reversing a trend from the previous week when shipping operators focused on evacuating seafarers stranded in the Gulf.
A United Nations-led operation to evacuate about 11,000 seafarers was suspended Thursday after a vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman.
Four tankers and one container ship entered the Gulf through the southern Omani corridor on Sunday under U.S. Navy escort, according to HFI Research in a post on X.
Kpler reported that no vessels used the same corridor to leave the Gulf on Sunday.
The company said the total number of crossings could increase as analysts identify additional vessel movements through satellite imagery.
Iran said Monday it held its first meeting with Oman to discuss management of the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington maintained that it would not accept transit fees for passage through what it considers an international waterway.