Hormuz Transits Collapse to 3 Vessels; Crude and LNG Tankers Halt

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz collapsed to just three commodity vessels on Thursday, down from 11 the previous day, with crude oil carriers and liquefied natural gas tankers staying away entirely, according to Reuters shipping data reported by the Times of Israel and carried by Reuters via Google News. The transit crash tracks a sixth straight night of US strikes inside Iran and an expanding Iranian retaliation campaign across the Gulf.

What we know

Reuters shipping data cited by the Times of Israel show only three commodity vessels transited the strait on Thursday, versus 11 on Wednesday — a roughly 73 percent single-day drop. Crude oil tankers and LNG carriers, the two ship categories most exposed to war-risk insurance premiums, did not transit the waterway at all on Thursday.

The collapse in transits comes as US Marines board tankers in the Gulf of Oman as part of the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports, and as Iran’s IRGC claims strikes on US military targets in seven countries overnight, widening the theatre of active fire around the strait.

Roughly a fifth of world oil supply and a third of seaborne LNG transit Hormuz in normal conditions. Thursday’s data are the sharpest single-day drop recorded since the mid-May shipping shutdown.

What we don’t know

Reuters and Times of Israel do not yet break out Friday’s transit count. It is unclear whether specific insurers have suspended cover, whether owners have issued formal “avoid” orders, or whether charterers are diverting to Cape or Red Sea routes at scale. Confirmed crude and LNG spot-price prints for Thursday’s Asia session are still landing. This story is developing.

Context

Hormuz shipping had been running well below its long-run baseline throughout July as US strike waves and Iranian retaliation intensified, but had not fully halted for crude and LNG in a single day this month. Thursday’s collapse points to a de-facto private-sector shutdown of the waterway by shipowners, insurers and charterers — distinct from the official transit-authority permit regimes Iran floated in May and from an outright military closure.

The shipping data land the same week CENTCOM confirmed a sixth night of strikes against Iranian military targets and Iranian media reported dozens of civilian deaths inside Iran from the campaign.

What to watch

1. Friday and weekend transit counts from Reuters and Kpler — a second zero-day for crude and LNG would confirm a durable shutdown.
2. Brent and TTF gas prints at the Asia and London opens; a >4 percent Brent move on the transit data would mark market pricing of the shutdown as sustained.
3. Marine war-risk insurance rates from Lloyd’s Joint War Committee — a formal listing change or premium spike will drive owner behaviour more than the strikes themselves.