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Strait of Hormuz sees surge in commercial traffic after US-Iran deal

By The South Asia Times

TEHRAN - Commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has surged to its highest level since early June, with 25 ships passing through the strategic waterway on Thursday following the implementation of a landmark US-Iran agreement.

The 14-point "Islamabad Memorandum," brokered by Pakistan and digitally signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on June 18, includes provisions to reopen the chokepoint and lift the US naval blockade on Iran. The strait had drawn intense global market attention after commercial traffic slowed sharply following the start of US-Israel attacks on Iran on February 28.

According to data from analytics firm Kpler and MarineTraffic, Thursday's crossings included vessels carrying liquefied natural gas, crude oil, oil products, fertilizer, dry bulk, and containers. Nine of the ships were identified as laden.

Four supertankers alone carried at least 8 million barrels of crude oil through the strait. Three of these were transporting 6.2 million barrels of Saudi crude, with more than 4 million barrels destined for Japan and South Korea. The French-flagged LNG tanker Mraikh is carrying 169,000 cubic meters of LNG from Qatar's Ras Laffan facility to Pakistan.

The surge marks a significant recovery from June 14 when only 12 vessels crossed, followed by 10 on June 15, 14 on June 16, and seven on June 17.

Since the war began, many commercial vessels transiting the strait had either been under sanctions or identified as part of the so-called "shadow fleet," with a large share of crossings taking place through Iranian territorial waters via the "Iran route."

The agreement aims to end the broader regional conflict, including hostilities in Lebanon, and resolve outstanding disputes through negotiations.