Hormuz traffic down, two more ships attacked, tracking firms say

Two commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, down from 10 a day earlier, preliminary shipping data from Kpler shows.

A mineral-laden Panama-flagged Supramax and a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier entered the waterway via an unknown route, Kpler data shows.

Two others, a crude oil tanker and a liquefied petroleum gas carrier, were attacked while crossing the Strait of Hormuz in separate incidents, shipping intelligence and tracking firm Marisks Intelligence says.

Marisks says The Isle of Man-flagged crude oil tanker LR Stephanie was struck by an unidentified projectile while entering the waterway on Monday, resulting in minor injuries to two crew members. A day earlier, the Liberia-flagged LPG tanker Al Maryah was struck while outbound.

Both vessels were able to continue without towing assistance, the report says.

“Responsibility for both incidents remains unconfirmed, and neither vessel has been identified on publicly reported Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) ‘non-compliant’ lists,” Marisks says.

Kpler’s figures on vessels that made it through the strait exclude any vessels that might have crossed with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Before the Iran conflict started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large, commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20 percent of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

At the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, 26 vessels crossed on Monday, unchanged from a day earlier.