Shipping traffic through Strait of Hormuz stays below 10-day average

Four commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from 10 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of around 13, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.

The four vessels that transited were one very large crude carrier, one Panamax tanker, one Kamsarmax carrier and one intermediate tanker, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT.

Of the four vessels, one was entering the strait and three were leaving.

The figures could change as some ships typically switch off transponders during the voyage.

The United States said it had launched a series of air strikes against Iran on Tuesday, prompting Iranian retaliation, in the most serious escalation of the conflict between the two countries in weeks.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement the U.S. attacks would "tighten the lock" on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carried about one-fifth of global oil consumption before the conflict.

Meanwhile, 18 commodity vessels transited through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, another major maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, with seven vessels entering and 11 exiting.

This compares with an average of around 24 ships going through Bab el-Mandeb over the past 10 days.

Among the vessels travelling through the strait were two Aframax tankers and one Suezmax tanker.

-Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kate Mayberry/Reuters