What Cargo Ships are Passing Hormuz Strait?

Commercial vessels offshore in Dubai last week © - / AFP/File
Commercial vessels offshore in Dubai last week © - / AFP/File
TT

What Cargo Ships are Passing Hormuz Strait?

Commercial vessels offshore in Dubai last week © - / AFP/File
Commercial vessels offshore in Dubai last week © - / AFP/File

Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers -- most of them Iranian -- have made it through the Strait of Hormuz since Iranian forces blocked the crucial trade route in the Middle East war.

Here are facts and figures about vessels that have passed through the 167-kilometre (104-mile) long strait since the war broke out with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, according to AFP.

- 95% shipping drop -

From March 1 to 19, commodities carriers made just 114 crossings, according to analytics firm Kpler -- a decrease of 95 percent from peacetime.

Of these, 69 crossings were by oil tankers and more than half were loaded, Kpler data showed, with most travelling east out of the strait.

Traffic "is being led mostly by bulk carriers, tankers and container ships," said Richard Meade, editor of leading shipping intelligence journal Lloyd's List, in a briefing on Thursday.

"But we have seen a bit of an uptick in gas carriers moving over the last week."

- Iranian, Greek, Chinese ships -

Most of the ships passing the strait are owned or flagged in Iran, said Bridget Diakun, an analyst at data company Lloyd's List Intelligence.

After that, Greek ships accounted for 18 percent of crossings and Chinese ones 10 percent in recent days, she said.

"Although Iran is continuing to control the Strait and exit its own oil, everything else is largely still at a standstill," said Meade.

- 35 sanctioned ships -

Overall since the war started, around a third of the ships transiting the strait were under US, EU or UK sanctions, according to an AFP analysis of passage data.

Of the oil and gas tankers, more than half were under sanctions.

Since March 16 "anything heading westbound has been shadow fleet, gas carriers or tankers... they absolutely dominate the traffic going through," Diakun told the Lloyds briefing.

- Oil to China -

Commodities analysts at JPMorgan bank said in a report released Monday that most of the oil passing through the strait was headed for Asia, principally China.

Data in the report indicated it was receiving more than a million barrels day from Hormuz -- far below the pre-war level of nearly five million.

Cichen Shen, Asia Pacific editor at Lloyd's List, said there were indications online that Chinese authorities were working on "some sort of exit plan" for their big tankers stuck in the region.

- 1.3 mn barrels of Iran oil -

The JPMorgan analysts said overall 98 percent of the observable oil traffic through the strait was Iranian, averaging 1.3 million barrels a day "in early March".

A fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait in peacetime.

- Indian, Pakistani ships -

"There are indications that some ships are transiting under Iranian 'approval', with some vessels following a route through the Strait closer to the Iranian coastline than normal," including Indian and Pakistani vessels, marine consultancy Clarksons said in a note.

Meade of Lloyds List added: "Several governments, including China, but (also) India, Pakistan, Iraq, Malaysia, they're all in direct talks with Tehran, coordinating vessel transits" with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

- Alternative routes surge -

Shipping companies are carving out other ways to get their cargos through the region. Major shipping firm CMA CGM said it was moving freight across Gulf countries by rail and road to avoid the strait.

"Gulf maritime traffic patterns indicate early signs of global rebalancing," said marine intelligence group Windward in a report.

In recent days transit volumes through the Bab el-Mandeb strait off east Africa surged 280 percent, and 70 percent through the Suez Canal, it said, indicating that "shipping is adapting through alternative corridors."



Iran and the US Harden their Positions as Tehran Keeps Its Grip on the Strait of Hormuz

FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
TT

Iran and the US Harden their Positions as Tehran Keeps Its Grip on the Strait of Hormuz

FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran and the United States hardened their positions as diplomacy aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the war in the Middle East appeared to be faltering on Thursday. Tehran moved to formalize its control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz while Washington prepared for the arrival of US combat forces in the region that could be used on the ground in the Iranian Republic.

Iran is instituting a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime,” industry experts say, with some ships paying in Chinese yuan to pass through the strait, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime.

Meanwhile, a strike group anchored by the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli drew closer to the Mideast with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have been ordered to the region, The Associated Press said.

The troop movements don’t guarantee US President Donald Trump will try to use force to compel Iran to open the strait and halt its attacks on Gulf Arab states.

Trump previously deployed a large force in the Caribbean before the American military captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January. In the current situation, the US is seen as focused on possibly seizing Iran’s oil terminal at Kharg Island or other sites near the strait.

US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who commands the American military in the region, said his forces have hit more than 10,000 targets since Israel and the US started the war Feb. 28, destroying 92% of Iran's largest ships and more than two-thirds of the country's missile, drone and naval production facilities.

“We’re not done yet,” said Cooper, who heads the US Central Command, in a video message. “We are on a path to completely eliminate Iran’s wider military apparatus.”

Iran seen as operating Strait of Hormuz as ‘de facto toll booth’

With its stranglehold on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Arabian Gulf toward the open ocean, Iran has been blocking ships it perceives as linked to the US and Israeli war effort, but letting through a trickle of others.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that parliament was working to formalize the process of charging fees to let ships pass.

“We provide its security, and it is natural that ships and oil tankers should pay such fees,” he was quoted as saying.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence called it a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime.”

The shipping intelligence firm said vessels have to provide manifests, crew details and their destination to Iran’s Guard for sanctions screening, cargo alignment checks that currently prioritizes oil over all other commodities, and for what is described as ‘geopolitical vetting.’”

“While not all ships are paying a direct toll, at least two vessels have and the payment is settled in yuan,” Lloyd’s List said, referring to China’s currency.

Iran's grip on the strait and relentless attacks on Gulf regional energy infrastructure has sent oil prices skyrocketing and concerns of a global energy crisis surging. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at US$104 early Thursday, up more than 40% from the day the war started.

“To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for world's economies,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters during a visit to Australia.

US maintains negotiations are ongoing but Iran says there are no talks

Using Pakistan as an intermediary, Washington has delivered to Iran a 15-point ceasefire proposal, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, speaking at a fundraiser Wednesday night in Washington, insisted that Iran still wants to cut a deal.

“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Trump said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV, however, that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war, “and we do not plan on any negotiations.”

Araghchi said the US had tried to send messages to Iran through other nations, “but that is not a conversation nor a negotiation.”

Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, said Iran has its own five-point proposal, which includes “sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”

A wave of Israeli airstrikes hits as Iran fires on Gulf neighbors

Israel said it carried out a wave of attacks early on Thursday targeting Iranian infrastructure, and air defenses were heard in Tehran, while heavy strikes were also reported around Isfahan, a city some 330 kilometers (205 miles) south of the Iranian capital.

Ifahan is home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the US during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.

Sirens sounded very early on Thursday morning in parts of Tel Aviv and cities in central Israel. Rescue workers said two people were injured in a blast in Kfar Qasim.

Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted multiple drones over its oil-rich Eastern Province, the United Arab Emirates' air defenses also worked to intercept incoming fire, and Bahrain reported extinguishing a blaze in a neighborhood that is home to the Bahrain International Airport.

Since the war began, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Iran, its Health Ministry says. Twenty people have been killed in Israel; two Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. At least 13 US military members have been killed. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have also died.

Nearly 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, authorities said. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militant groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.


Pentagon Reaches Deals with Defense Firms to Expand Munitions Production

A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
TT

Pentagon Reaches Deals with Defense Firms to Expand Munitions Production

A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it had reached framework agreements with BAE Systems, Lockheed and Honeywell to boost production of defense systems munitions as part of a push to put the US military on a “wartime footing.”

The ‌announcements come more than three weeks after US President Donald Trump and Israel launched a war on Iran. They also follow Trump's meeting earlier this month with executives from seven defense contractors as the Pentagon sought to replenish weapons stocks depleted by US strikes on Iran and other recent military operations.

The Pentagon also plans to send thousands of airborne troops to ⁠the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Under the agreements, Honeywell Aerospace will “surge production of critical components for America's munitions stockpile,” as part of a $500 million multi-year investment, the Pentagon said.

BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin will also quadruple production of seekers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor, while a new framework agreement with Lockheed will accelerate production of its Precision Strike Missile, the Pentagon added.

Honeywell said the agreement would support increased output of navigation systems, missile steering actuators and electronic warfare products used ‌across ⁠US military platforms.

Honeywell Aerospace CEO Jim Currier said the company was ready to help meet the urgent demand.

Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet also said the company was “working closely with the Department of War and the US Army to scale production to meet operational demand.”

Trump in January signed an executive order directing ⁠officials to identify contractors deemed to be underperforming on government contracts while continuing to return profits to shareholders. His administration has also stepped up pressure on defense companies to prioritize production over shareholder payouts.

“We discussed ⁠production and production schedules,” Trump said of the earlier meeting, which included executives from Lockheed Martin, RTX, BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman.

The United States has drawn ⁠down billions of dollars worth of weapons from its stockpiles since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and during Israel's military operations in Gaza, including artillery systems, ammunition and anti-tank missiles.

 

 

 


Strikes Near Iran, Israel Nuclear Sites Risk ‘Unmitigated Catastrophe’, Says UN

 A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
TT

Strikes Near Iran, Israel Nuclear Sites Risk ‘Unmitigated Catastrophe’, Says UN

 A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)

Strikes around Iran and Israel's nuclear sites risk unleashing an "unmitigated catastrophe", the United Nations rights chief said Wednesday, warning that the Middle East war had created an "extremely dangerous" situation.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, where countries were holding an urgent debate on Tehran's attacks across the Gulf, Volker Turk warned that many of the strikes in the weeks-long war "raise serious concerns under international law".

In particular, Turk cautioned that "recent missile strikes near nuclear sites in both Israel and Iran underscore the immense danger of further escalation".

"States are flirting with unmitigated catastrophe."

His comments came after the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that "another projectile hit the premises" of the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday, without damaging it.

Over the weekend, an Iranian strike hit the southern Israeli town of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, in what Tehran said was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear site at Natanz.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and unpredictable, and has created chaos across the region," Turk said, insisting that "we cannot go back to war as a tool of international relations".

The UN rights chief also warned that "this conflict has an unprecedented power to ensnare countries across borders and around the world".

"The complex dynamics could ignite further national, regional or global crises at any moment, with an appalling impact on civilians and people everywhere."