Paris (France) (AFP) – Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose to its busiest in two months after a deal to halt the US-Iran war, maritime trackers said on Friday. A total of 25 commercial vessels crossed the newly reopened strait on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from tracking firm AXSMarine — more than three times the average of just over seven a day since early March.
In a sign of traffic picking up in the region, empty trucks queued for up to three kilometres (two miles) outside the UAE port of Korfakkan just south of the strait, as at least four container ships unloaded there, an eyewitness told AFP. Other ships could be seen on the hazy horizon, apparently waiting their turn to dock and unload, the eyewitness said, requesting anonymity.
The spike came after Iran and the United States agreed this week to re-open the crucial route under an agreement to end the war, but before the postponement of talks between the sides in Switzerland that had been planned for Friday under that deal. The number of crossings on Thursday may be higher, as some ships turned off or manipulated their AIS transponder signals to avoid detection, AXSMarine said in a news release.
Iranian forces effectively closed off the strait after US and Israeli strikes sparked the war on February 28. Maritime authorities reported dozens of attacks on ships in the area.
**- Sea mine warning -** Global shipping groups warned this week that plans to resume traffic through the strait were still not clear and it was not thought safe to start exiting the Gulf. The Pakistani navy published an alert Friday warning that a mine had been sighted in the strait off Oman. “All vessels transiting through the area are advised to navigate with extreme caution,” it said.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority on Friday published new rules for transits during the 60-day period covered by the war agreement. In a post on X, it said all ships seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz should submit a transit request “48 hours in advance”. It said it would waive payments of “tariffs” and “Iranian insurances” for ships passing during the 60 days.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) chief Arsenio Dominguez said in April that the body was working on a plan to ensure safe transit for ships out of the Gulf.
**- Oil market impact -** More than 500 commercial vessels and about 11,000 seafarers are still stuck in the Gulf, according to the IMO. It says 20,000 seafarers in the region have been affected by the war overall. The agreement to stop the war this week was also meant to halt fighting in Lebanon, but Israel’s military on Friday announced new strikes there. A US official later said Israel and Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire.
The closure of the strait during the war drove up global oil prices and choked off shipments of energy and crucial commodities such as fertiliser. Following the Iran-US agreement announced on June 14, “the first sign of relief came this week with fast falling prices,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at banking group Swissquote.
“Energy and transport sectors will be the first to feel the relief, before it spills toward the rest of the economy,” she told AFP. But given the risk of renewed fighting in Lebanon, she added, “questions remain regarding the US ability to end the war.”
© 2024 AFP
