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Vessel Traffic Via Hormuz Dwindles as Bab el-Mandeb Shipments Rebound, MarineTraffic Says

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Commercial vessel traffic through two of the Middle East's key energy chokepoints showed divergent trends on Thursday, with traffic through the Strait of Hormuz falling while shipments in Bab el-Mandeb increased.

The latest data from MarineTraffic for Thursday showed eight confirmed vessel crossings through the Hormuz, down 33% from 12 vessels the previous day and 15 on Tuesday.

The data analytics firm said most of the vessels that transited the waterway followed Iran's Unilateral Scheme, as heightened security risks continued to weigh on commercial movements.

According to the US Central Command's X post on Friday, Centcom has directed a total of 51 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two.

Traffic through Bab el-Mandeb, meanwhile, recovered slightly, with 26 confirmed crossings on Thursday, an 18% increase from 22 the previous day.

The movements included three dark transits, in which vessels' tracking signals were not continuously visible.

The contrasting activity comes as security risks remain elevated across both waterways, which connect major oil and gas producing regions with global markets.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations said on Thursday that commercial traffic through the Hormuz remained reduced in light of its advisory UKMTO 107-26 and multiple confirmed or reported incidents during the reporting period.

The maritime security agency said that independent tracking indicated that tanker traffic through the strait remained suppressed, with single-digit numbers of tankers moving in each direction.

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