Still in single digits: Shipping vessel traffic in Strait of Hormuz remains low

SINGAPORE - The number of vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz was little changed on Monday compared with the weekend, hovering around five, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Tuesday, below the 10-day average of around 14.

Four of the vessels entered the strait and one exited, data from Kpler showed.

Vessels that sail through the strait with their transponders turned off are not included in the count.

No liquid tankers were among those sailing through the waterway on Monday, the data showed.

Of those that entered, one was an empty handy-sized gas tanker which reached the strait via the Iranian route. The other three were laden dry bulk carriers.

On Tuesday, a Saudi oil tanker was stopped while transiting through the southern corridor of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media reports.

Meanwhile, at the other chokepoint, the Bab-el Mandeb strait, the number of vessels transiting was at a three-day high of 27, Kpler data showed, with 14 entering and 13 exiting.

Five of the 27 vessel transits were either Aframax- or Suezmax-sized crude tankers, according to the data.

None of the vessels that entered or exited were very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers.

-Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Christopher Cushing/Reuters