Several Iran-linked vessels crossed Hormuz ahead of US blockade, monitoring firm says

The number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz ticked up on Tuesday, with most of them linked to Iranian trade, before a US blockade took effect today, Wednesday, shipping data showed.

Nine of the 11 vessels that passed through the strait on Tuesday sailed via the Iranian route, according to the ship-tracking data on Kpler.

Vessels that exited the strait with Iranian exports included one VLCC carrying 2 million barrels of crude, a medium-range tanker with refined products, and two tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas, the data showed, according to Reuters.

There were no visible entries or exits for tankers to load oil and gas from other Gulf producers on Tuesday.

“The next phase of Gulf flow recovery could be slower than the initial phase even after geopolitical de-escalation,” Goldman Sachs said in a note on Wednesday.


-Al Jazeera