Shipping traffic through Strait of Hormuz rises slightly, data shows

SINGAPORE — Shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz rose slightly even ​as a standoff persisted between the United States and Iran, data showed on Thursday, while the market monitored Iran-Oman ‌talks about the waterway.

Visible commodity vessel transits at Hormuz totaled 10 on Wednesday, ⁠up slightly from eight on ​Tuesday, data from Kpler showed. ⁠This was below a 10-day moving average of about 15 ‌vessels.

Two medium-range fuel tankers, ‌a liquefied petroleum gas carrier, a Panamax-sized tanker, and ⁠three handymax-sized tankers entered the strait ⁠from the Gulf of Oman.

A medium-range fuel tanker, a bitumen tanker and a bulk carrier exited the waterway from the Gulf.

Iran and Oman are still working on the details of an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, a senior ‌Iranian source said on Wednesday, after Iran's ​Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway and its revenue.

A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire that was later extinguished, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said early on Thursday.

Meanwhile, traffic slowed for a ​second day at the other key waterway of the Bab el-Mandeb ‌strait.

A total of ‌19 commodity ⁠vessels passed through Bab el-Mandeb on Wednesday, with six tankers that exited, including a very large crude carrier, down from 24 on the previous day, the Kpler data showed.

Some vessels may be ‌sailing at the key ​waterways with their transponders turned off ‌and may be ⁠missed in ​the counts.

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