Tens of ships pass through Hormuz Strait after US-Iran deal

The number of ships that make transit since June 18th, a day after the signing of the agreement, is still well below the pre-conflict average of about 138 crossings per day.

Data tracking ships analyzed by the BBC Verifu indicates that more than 200 tankers appear to be waiting within the strait Tuesday, with at least 10 ships moving west of the Gulf to date.

The price of a crude oil barrel, Brant, the global oil standard, has fallen to the lowest level since the beginning of the war.

Many of the tankers that have passed through the straits in recent days have been linked to Iran following the removal of the American naval blockade as part of the deal.

At least 30 tankers have been launched from the oil-loaded Gulf and Iranian petrochemicals since the deal was reached, according to Kema Scheley, a senior research analyst in the campaign group and monitoring “United Against Nuclear Iran”.

The US Treasury has also eased sanctions for decades by issuing a license to allow the sale of crude Iranian oil, petrochemicals and other oil products by 21 August.

On Monday, at least five tankers previously sanctioned by the US for connection with Iran passed through the straits, ship tracking data showed, transporting up to four million barrels of oil.

However, there has been an increase in normal trade '”, said Martin Kelly of the EOS Crisis Management Agency.

Four tanks of liquid natural gas were seen on ship tracking platforms, passing through the Strait to Qatar's Ras Laffan port of Qatar on Monday, and at least three tankers and three cargo ships sailed from the Gulf on Tuesday.

All these transits were carried out along Iran's northern road approved through Iranian waters, instead of the US-commissioned southern route off the coast of Oman.

And according to ship tracking data, more than 250 tankers and 440 cargo ships are still inside the Gulf, based on their recent reported positions. More than 80% of tankers are fixed or anchored, and about one in six seems to carry loads.

A satellite image showing ships off the coast of Dubai

Despite the US and their Gulf allies have consistently rejected Iranian efforts to exercise control over the straits during the conflict, the agreement signed last week committed Iran to making the best <x0).

The agreement also said Iran would work with Oman to define the future administration and naval services” of the strait.

The Iranian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) published its conditions for transit across the Strait Friday. No ship is allowed to pass through the Hormuz Strait without a valid pass permission issued by PGSA”, the authority said.

P The GSA was sanctioned by the United States and Kelly said it could prevent some shipowners from asking for Iranian permission.

There have also been conflicting messages from Iranian officials regarding the status of the strait.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday that the strait was closed in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, but some of the traffic continued to flow.

Then, Tuesday, Tehran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva reportedly said the strait was open, while a military source told an Iranian news agency that the number of daily transits would be limited.

A map showing roads through the Strait of Hormuz

Concerns about marine mines in internationally recognised shipping corridors across the middle of the strait have also played a role in keeping shipping traffic away from its pre-war levels.

The Joint Marine Information Centre (JMIC), a group of multinational marines that includes the U.S., has warned ships to avoid this central section of the Strait “due to mine existence”.

So far, The JMIC has issued warnings and co-ordinations for two mines and said active “mine-clearing operations are continuing”.

JMIC has recommended that ships follow a narrower southern route through the strait, closer to the coast of Oman, which says that “has been confirmed clean from mines”.

“We saw tanks passing along the southern corridor late last week and later, when Iran declared the strait closed again on Saturday, June 20th, transit was halted”, Shelley said.

“Today there has been a renewal of tanks, but still only a small amount of”, she added.

At least four tankers appeared to be crossing the strait through the southern route on Tuesday, they showed the data of the tracking ships, including a Norwegian flag ship sailing toward Singapore and a Liberian flagship bound for Taiwan. /Kosovo priss