Shipping traffic though Strait of Hormuz remains below 10-day average

Six commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 12, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.

The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Of the six vessels, five were entering and one was exiting, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT. They included one Panamax and one intermediate tanker.

The chokepoint at the southern tip of the Gulf prior to the start of the Iran war on February 28 typically handled about 125 large, commercial vessels per day, including oil tankers and natural gas carriers. The traffic accounted for some 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

A U.S. blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.

IRAN WAR HAS INTENSIFIED

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran intensified on Tuesday when Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen launched strikes on several Saudi Arabian cities. In addition, U.S. forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran struck a U.S. base in Jordan.

The heightened conflict and continued disruption of energy markets drove oil prices above $100 LCOc1 a barrel on Tuesday.

According to a report by marine intelligence firm Marisks, U.S. forces rendered inoperable five Iran-linked crude oil tankers, the M/T Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Derya.

Four of the vessels were reportedly struck in the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz, and one near Kharg Island, Iran's most important export terminal, the report added.

In the Red Sea, where Houthi militants have announced a blockade of Saudi-related shipping, 25 commodity vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday. Of these, 11 vessels entered and 14 exited.

This compares with an average of around 27 ships going through Bab el-Mandeb over the last 10 days.

Among the vessels travelling through the strait were two Suezmax tankers, eight Aframax tankers and one Very Large Crude Carrier.

-Reporting by Emily Chow and Florence Tan; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Barbara Lewis/Reuters