The transit of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level since Iran and the United States signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 17, which formalized a ceasefire. This underscores the fragility of the agreement, with the danger that nearly 20% of the world’s oil supply may be taken once more out of the world economic system.
The June 29 TASS, citing Bloomberg and other sources, reports that on June 24, 58 ships transited the strait, itself only 40% of the pre-war traffic. The Trump administration advised ships to use a corridor that runs through Omani territorial waters, and which would bypass the Oman-Iran arrangement to control Strait of Hormuz traffic, and charge tolls/fees. This escalated into both the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. military engaging in missile fire, including Iran firing on a tanker. On June 27, the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz dropped to 28 vessels, and on June 28, it fell further to 12 vessels. Owners of vessels are terrified that they will be struck.