Hormuz shipping rebounds despite hostilities as dark transits continue

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has increased despite continuing Middle East hostilities, although dark transits and identity manipulation remain widespread, according to data from the maritime intelligence firm Windward.

Twenty vessels crossed the strait on July 29, evenly split between 10 inbound and 10 outbound transits, according to Windward.

Fifteen vessels were visible through the Automatic Identification System (AIS), while five were classified as dark or operating without normal transmissions.

Among the outbound vessels was the Al Areesh, which carried Qatar’s first liquefied natural gas shipment through the strait in around three weeks.

The ADNOC-chartered LNG carrier Mraweh entered the Gulf while operating dark after briefly reappearing on AIS following an 18-day gap.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said American military escorts were helping energy shipments continue through the waterway.

“We are using the United States military to escort out oil and gas out of the Strait of Hormuz,” Wright told Bloomberg Radio.

He said around 6.5 million barrels of oil per day had exited the Gulf through Hormuz over the past week.

Traffic had declined sharply after the US intensified strikes on Iran in mid-July and Tehran launched retaliatory attacks in the region.

Dark fleet activity remains elevated

The 24 of 85 Gulf-side tankers, or 28%, were transmitting identities that differed from their tracked cargo profiles, according to the data.

Nearly all were sanctioned over Iranian petroleum exports, indicating what the company described as a fleet-wide sanctions-evasion practice.

Windward also detected high-speed-craft groups totaling roughly 55 boats in the strait and said the number of stationary dark tankers west of Iran’s Larak Island had increased from 14 to 18.

All three crude export terminals at Iran’s Kharg Island were empty during the company’s latest assessment, pointing to a sustained slowdown in loading activity.

Red Sea risks continue

Windward recorded 16 vessels entering and 18 leaving the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb on July 29, while Kpler counted 21 commodity-vessel crossings.

Security concerns intensified after a drone struck the US-managed floating LNG storage unit Energos Winter at Egypt’s Damietta port, with the fire spreading to the LNG carrier GasLog Salem.

Both crews were evacuated and no casualties were reported. No group has claimed responsibility.