Commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to its lowest level in five weeks on Sunday, with just six vessels making the passage, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler. The sharp decline coincided with a new wave of US precision strikes on dozens of Iranian targets and Iranian naval actions that included stopping two ships by disabling their systems. Most tankers that did move through the strait switched off their transponders, a practice that obscures their positions and signals heightened security concerns. No liquefied natural gas tankers were observed entering the strait over the weekend.

In Washington, President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to commercial traffic, a position echoed by US Central Command, which confirmed the strikes against Iranian targets. Tehran, through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, countered that it had closed the waterway after a vessel used an unapproved route and was struck. The Guards later declared that the strait would reopen only when American interventions cease, framing the disruption as a direct consequence of US military activity. The Iranian account did not identify the ships involved in the overnight interceptions.

The traffic data, reported by multiple outlets citing Kpler, showed that the Very Large Crude Carrier Humanity, carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian oil, and the Capetan Andreas, with 500,000 barrels of Kuwaiti oil products, were among the tankers that exited the strait. Three empty tankers entered the Gulf to load oil, while an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co-controlled vessel departed for India’s Dahej port between 10 and 12 July. The absence of LNG tankers and the widespread transponder blackouts underscore the operational caution gripping the shipping industry, which relies on the strait for roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG flows.

The latest incidents extend a pattern of maritime insecurity in a region where US-Iran tensions have repeatedly threatened freedom of navigation. Viewed from Tehran, the interception of vessels and the declared closure are responses to unauthorised transits and broader US military pressure. From Washington, the strikes are presented as defensive measures to protect commercial shipping and deter Iranian actions. The contradictory claims leave the legal and operational status of the strait contested, with no immediate mechanism for independent verification.

With the Revolutionary Guards conditioning the strait’s reopening on a halt to US interventions, the dossier remains deadlocked. Maritime insurers and energy markets are closely monitoring the situation, and any further incidents risk prolonging the traffic slowdown or triggering a more severe disruption to global energy supply chains.