Hormuz traffic grinds to a halt as tensions deepen

Observed transits of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz have come to a halt following a brief surge on Saturday as tensions ratcheted higher after vessels came under gunfire in the waterway and Iran warned against crossings.

- Bloomberg

No crossings were seen on Sunday, according to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg as of early afternoon in London. At least 13 oil tankers turned back toward the Persian Gulf on Saturday, abandoning attempts to leave that began after Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced a day earlier that the strait was open.

But Tehran again shut the waterway following a refusal by the US to lift its own naval blockade of Iran’s vessels. It followed a period of chaos when some ships tried to race out after Araghchi's comments, only for many to U-turn. It's keeping millions of barrels of oil and large quantities of liquefied natural gas locked within the Persian Gulf, threatening to prolong an energy crunch that's roiled the global economy.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations said Saturday a tanker was approached by IRGC gunboats off the coast of Oman before being fired at. A container ship was then hit by an unknown projectile in a separate incident while another commercial vessel reported a splash close to it, the UKMTO said later.