Renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran have caused shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to slow to a near standstill, with only eight ships navigating the artery on Thursday, the second full day of the reinstated US naval blockade against Iran.
Oil prices rose as the Iran war, now in its fifth month, continued to disrupt energy supplies.
Shipping activity was at its lowest level in more than a month, down from 13 ships the previous day, according to Kpler, a maritime data firm. Most of the ships that sailed through the strait on Wednesday and Thursday passed through the corridor ordered by Tehran in Iranian waters.
The United States carried out more strikes against Iran on Thursday as fighting continued for the sixth straight day.
The US blockade of Iran is likely to severely hamper Tehran’s ability to monetize its control over the strait, as it did during the first blockade, which lasted from April to mid-June. During that period, U.S. forces diverted or disabled more than 149 ships, depriving Iran of billions of dollars in oil revenue.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that as of Thursday, U.S. forces had diverted three commercial vessels trying to evade the blockade, disabled one non-compliant ship and boarded another ship. The military said the collision occurred on a Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker, the Wen Yao.
