DUBAI: Only 12 commodity ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down sharply from 35 the previous week, according to preliminary shipping data.
The decline highlights continued disruption to commercial traffic through the strategic waterway amid the ongoing Iran war and heightened security risks.
The data showed that ship traffic remained well below normal levels. The figures do not include ships that may have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders switched off.
Before the war began on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz typically handled around 125 large commercial ships a day, including oil tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and container ships.
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The waterway is a crucial global energy route, accounting for about 20% of daily worldwide crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
The latest slowdown followed an incident in which a ship was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the strait, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
