Key insights
- Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains significantly reduced due to heightened tensions between the US and Iran. This disruption, with only a fraction of the usual vessels passing through, threatens global oil and LNG supply chains. Escalating conflict and potential for further restrictions pose a downside risk to US equities, particularly energy and shipping sectors, due to increased volatility and potential supply shocks.
Investing.com -- Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely halted on Tuesday, with only three vessels crossing the waterway in the past 24 hours, according to shipping data reported on by Reuters on Tuesday.
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The Ean Spir products tanker sailed through Hormuz on Tuesday after calling at an Iraqi port, ship tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform showed.
The Lianstar cargo ship also passed through the strait from an Iranian port, the data showed.
The Meda liquefied petroleum gas tanker crossed the strait on Monday in its second attempt to leave the Gulf after turning back previously, according to satellite analysis from data analytics specialists SynMax.
The three vessels represent a fraction of the 140 ships that sailed through daily before the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran began on February 28.
More than a dozen tankers passed through the strait after Iran briefly declared it open on Friday. A ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Tuesday as Iran vowed to retaliate for the U.S. seizure of one of its vessels and refused to join new peace talks.
Iran's army said an Iranian tanker had entered its territorial waters from the Arabian Sea on Monday with help from the Iranian Navy, despite what it described as repeated warnings and threats from the U.S. naval task force.
A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has prompted Tehran to maintain its own restrictions on the strait, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.