Traffic through the two crucial chokepoints of the straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb is “reduced significantly on Wednesday from the previous day,” Reuters reported. “Just two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz,” down from eight on Tuesday and an average of 130-140 ships per day previously, according to Kpler marine tracking. Only one ship crossed Bab el-Mandeb on Wednesday, down from 20 on Tuesday.
The Ukraine war has also led to sharp drops in shipping from Black Sea ports, and a report in TASS explained “Ukraine has lost about $1.05 billion in foreign exchange earnings due to the blockade of its seaports since July 22, according to TASS calculations. Ukraine’s main commercial ports—Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny—remain idle. Shipping schedules show that large foreign merchant vessels are not calling at these ports… Ukraine is losing around $70 million daily, primarily because of a sharp decline in exports of agricultural products and steel. Available vessel traffic data do not account for deliveries of military cargo to the Ukrainian armed forces. The Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports strikes on dry cargo ships at the port of Nikolayev used to support Ukrainian troops.”
