From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 22, 2026
Shipping slows after Iran says it has again shut the Strait of Hormuz
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The number of ships that passed through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply on Sunday after Iran announced it had again closed the waterway, claiming Israeli and US violations of the interim US-Iran peace deal, shipping data shows.
Five vessels passed the strait on Sunday, compared with 26 ships spotted a day earlier, data from analytics firm Kpler shows. These included three Very Large Crude Carriers carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude and fuel oil each, one of which was heading to Japan. The data may exclude vessels that switch off their transponders while travelling in the Gulf.
Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the waterway shut once again in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, after opening it under the MOU. The US military said commercial vessels were still operating.
Among the ships that exited the strait on Saturday, three of them were VLCCs carrying crude from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq while there were also three tankers carrying various oil products, the data shows.
A total of 13 ships entered the strait on Saturday, including two VLCCs, the data shows.
Gulf producers Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Kuwait Petroleum Corp have issued tenders selling crude with the option of loading from inside and outside the Strait of Hormuz.
The Times of Israel Community.