Shipping Remains Slow at Strait of Hormuz Despite Ceasefire
Ship tracking services reported Thursday that traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remained less than ten percent of its normal level, despite Iran’s ostensible promise to end terrorist attacks on civilian ships as part of its ceasefire agreement with the United States and Israel.
Iran closed the long, narrow strait shortly after Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, leaving hundreds of oil tankers and cargo ships stranded in the Persian Gulf. Global oil supplies have been reduced by around 20 percent, with consumers hit hardest. in China and Southeast Asian countries.
View from Oman of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz following the temporary two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran on April 8, 2026. (Shadi JH Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The two-week ceasefire agreement announcement President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday included a commitment from Iran to the “full, immediate and secure opening of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Only a few ships managed to cross the strait before Iran reneged on the deal, claims Israel violated the ceasefire by continuing its operations against the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists. Israel and the United States have insisted that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire agreement.
Reuters Thursday quoted ship tracking data that shows only seven ships passed through the strait in the previous 24 hours, far below the 140 ships that normally pass through it each day. Only one of the seven ships was an oil tanker.
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has told ship captains that they can pass through the strait safely, provided they follow a particular route to avoid mines laid by the Iranians, but very few ships appear to risk passage.
Iran has threatened to begin imposing “tolls” of up to $2 million per ship for safe passage, even though it has no legal right to restrict travel on the international waterway. One of the few ships to make the journey on Thursday, an Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker, told Reuters it had not paid any tolls or ransoms.
Maritime intelligence company Windward has released a newsletter Wednesday, which said the Strait of Hormuz “remains effectively closed” to most traffic.
“Coordination with Iranian armed forces is still necessary for all transits,” Windward noted, assessing the Iranian intimidation tactic as a sign “that the Islamic Republic seeks to retain influence over the waterway during ceasefire negotiations.”
Two police officers walk past an anti-U.S. billboard depicting U.S. aircraft in the fishing net of the Iranian armed forces with signs reading in Farsi: “The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, the entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground,” at Eqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution Square, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Ship trackers said Two Chinese tankers loaded with crude oil from Iraq and Saudi Arabia moved closer to the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, but apparently changed their minds about passing through.
Shipping giant Maersk issued an advisory Wednesday saying the ceasefire “could create transit opportunities” but that the situation was likely still too risky.
“Any decision to transit through the Strait of Hormuz will be based on ongoing risk assessments, close monitoring of the security situation and available advice from relevant authorities and partners,” Maersk said.
The United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, ADNOC, said on Thursday that Iran must immediately and unconditionally open the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran has made clear – through its statements and actions – that the passage is subject to authorization, conditions and political leverage. This is not freedom of navigation. This is coercion,” said Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of ADNOC, who is also the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology.
“Energy producers must be able to quickly and safely restore large-scale production. At ADNOC, we have loaded cargoes and we will increase production within the limits of the damage we have suffered,” he said.
Jaber reiterated the UAE’s demand that Iran be “held accountable and fully responsible for damages and repairs” after attacking Emirati infrastructure over the past month.
“The strait must be opened – fully, unconditionally and without restrictions. Energy security and global economic stability depend on it,” he said, stressing that Emirati oil-laden ships are ready to use the Strait of Hormuz and ease the global oil shock caused by its closure.
