Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz recovered on Monday, with 40 vessels passing through the waterway after a weekend dip triggered by renewed strikes between Iran and the United States.
The figure, drawn from data compiled by maritime tracking firm Kpler, was up from 24 on Sunday and 39 on Saturday. Movement had picked up earlier in the week after Washington and Tehran agreed a cease-fire and a 60-day window for talks on ending the war. Last Wednesday saw 76 ships transit the strait — a vital artery for oil and gas cargoes — the highest count since March 1.
Hundreds of vessels have been stuck in the Gulf since Iran effectively sealed the strait following the US and Israeli strikes of late February. Tehran has demanded that shipping hug a corridor close to its own coast, and while many have fallen in line, others have run an alternative route near the Omani shore, frequently under US military escort.
Monday's traffic was split fairly evenly between the two corridors — the Omani route used largely for west-to-east passage, the Iranian one mainly for east-to-west. Many ships, however, switch off their transponders before entering the strait, obscuring the route taken and leaving only a partial read on overall volumes.
