Inbound vessels drive pickup in Hormuz traffic after Sunday lull

Strait of Hormuz traffic picked up on Monday, largely driven by vessels entering the Gulf, after a weekend lull as the United States and Iran traded strikes, maritime tracking data showed.

Nineteen commodities vessels entered the Gulf on Monday, matching the number of entries by such ships recorded last Wednesday, when total crossings reached a wartime high of 70, Kpler data showed.

Of the ships entering since Monday, at least nine were supertankers, which had mostly avoided entering over the weekend.

Monday's total of 40 transits in both directions is in line with last week's wartime record number of crossings.

However, these numbers are still far below peacetime traffic when around 120 ships crossed the strait each day.

Just 15 commodities vessels crossed on Sunday.

The US and Iran traded strikes over the weekend, and a vessel was struck while transiting the strait on Saturday, after another one was hit on Thursday.

Vessels are still using multiple routes to cross the vital chokepoint, despite Iran's warnings on Sunday not to use routes it did not approve of.

MarineTraffic showed a steady stream of ships passing through northern routes in Iranian waters from early Monday, including at least 10 container ships.

The website only shows ships crossing with their transponders on, meaning more ships may have crossed with their signals switched off.

Ships have also continued to transit via the Omani route.

Thirteen commodity vessels used the route since Monday, according to Kpler data.

Some of those vessels crossed in two groups using this southern corridor, according to tracks shown on MarineTraffic.

On Sunday, ships crossing in groups through the Omani corridor were escorted by the US, according to research firm HFI Research.