Strait of Hormuz shipping volume plummets over 90% in March

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 24 (Xinhua)—Since the outbreak of conflict between the US and Iran, the “lifeline” of global energy shipping, the Strait of Hormuz, has been severely disrupted. Data from market service organizations show that since March, the number of merchant vessels passing through this strait has fallen by 95% compared with before the conflict.

Citing data from market service firm Kpler, Agence France-Presse reported on the 23rd that from March 1 to 16:00 on March 23 Greenwich Mean Time, the number of times merchant vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz was only 144, down 95% from before the outbreak of the conflict on February 28. Of these, 91 passages were by ships transporting oil and natural gas, and most have sailed away from the strait to the east. Data from the Joint Maritime Information Center—a multinational center led by the US Navy—shows that before the conflict, about 138 vessels passed through the strait per day.

On April 30, 2019, Iranian soldiers patrol in the Strait of Hormuz. Xinhua photo (Ahmad Haraibassasis)

AFP said that the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz on the 23rd appear to have all used a northern route. It is claimed that the route lies north of Iran’s Larak Island and has been approved by the Iranian government.

The UK’s Lloyd’s List reported on the 23rd that “shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been continuously and severely disrupted,” and that on that day it had tracked more than 20 vessels using this route. The newspaper previously said the route is similar to the “safe corridor” designated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses Larak Island to visually confirm ships passing through the strait.

Data from the maritime traffic website of the international freight information platform shows that, amid supply constraints, since March 3, about 11 LNG (liquefied natural gas) cargo ships that were originally headed for Europe have diverted to Asia, where it is closer and spot prices are higher.

JPMorgan Chase analysts said that among observable oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s oil accounts for as much as 98%, and in early March the volume shipped was 1.3 million barrels per day on average.

The Strait of Hormuz is an important maritime thoroughfare for global oil shipping. As the only shipping route from the Persian Gulf to the outside world, more than one quarter of total seaborne oil trade worldwide and about one fifth of global LNG transportation are carried through this strait to destinations around the world. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that the quantity of petroleum products shipped through the strait in 2024 averaged about 20 million barrels per day. (Liu Xi)

(Editor-in-charge: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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