Oil tanker traffic through Strait of Hormuz down 90%, trade monitor says

By AFP 4 March 2026, 5:57 pm

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Oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has plunged by 90% since the outbreak of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the energy market intelligence firm Kpler says on X.

Iranian military officials have said they have completely choked off traffic through the waterway that a fifth of the world’s crude oil supplies transit, but Kpler says some are risking the trip.

“Unlike several other vessel segments where movements have largely ceased, some tankers are still traveling east and west through the strait, with a number of voyages occurring under AIS blackouts,” says Kpler Principal Freight Analyst Matt Wright, referring to the marine traffic tracking system.