Daily transits average three, down from over 100 before late-February strikes, as vessels avoid Iranian detection.
The US military has guided approximately 70 commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz over the past three weeks, averaging three daily. Vessels turned off transponders to evade Iranian detection, running closer to Oman’s coastline to avoid missile or drone attacks near Iran’s waters.
Before US-Israeli strikes in late February, over 100 ships transited the strait daily. Current US-coordinated passages mark a marginal resumption, though maritime data shows around 40 percent of recent crossings used dark or unknown routes. A US blockade in the Gulf of Oman has redirected 116 ships since mid-April.
The strait’s reduced traffic follows heightened tensions, with Iran’s oil exports largely severed. Of 895 crossings between March 1 and May 19, just over half took the Iranian coastal route, per maritime data.