Shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply on Wednesday, with preliminary tracking data showing just seven vessel crossings, down from 12 a day earlier. Meanwhile, Saudi oil loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu are showing signs of recovery following a six-month low in August.
Hormuz crossings fall below recent average
The seven recorded transits were also well below the 10-day average of 14. Four vessels exited the strait and three entered, according to the data.
Some ships may have passed through the waterway with their tracking transponders switched off and would therefore not have been included in the figures.
Among the vessels that exited was the Finland Prosperity, a very large crude carrier transporting almost 2 million barrels of oil.
No liquefied natural gas carrier was recorded leaving the strait. The other three outbound vessels comprised two dry bulk carriers and one short-range dirty-product tanker.
Of the three vessels entering the strait, one was a dry bulk carrier, while the other two were a short-range tanker and a medium-range tanker.
Traffic through Bab el-Mandeb remains stable
At the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, 28 cargo vessels crossed on Wednesday, broadly in line with the 10-day average of 27.
Of the total, 16 vessels entered the waterway and 12 exited.
Yanbu oil loadings recover
Saudi Arabian crude oil and condensate loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu, a key hub for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, have rebounded so far in September after falling to a six-month low in August, according to vessel-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa.
Vortexa estimated that loadings rose to 3.7 million barrels per day in September, from 3.2 million barrels per day in August, their lowest level since the beginning of the war hormwith Iran.
Kpler provided a lower estimate of 2.9 million barrels per day for September, compared with just 1.5 million barrels per day in August.
Loadings at Yanbu declined in late July and August amid an escalation in attacks near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.
Source: CNA
