Windward: Strait of Hormuz Shipping Traffic Slumps as US-Iran Clashes Continue

UK-based maritime analytics firm Windward said in a July 9 report that commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply amid ongoing U.S.-Iran exchanges of fire, with outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf “essentially stalled,” according to Jiemian News. Windward recorded 51 transits on July 7, including 35 vessels leaving the Persian Gulf; 35 transits on July 8, with 18 outbound vessels and only two using the southern lane near Oman; and just five transits from the night of July 8 to early July 9, with only one vessel outbound. The report said the southern lane has been largely abandoned and that outbound commercial traffic has entered a de facto shutdown for the first time since a partial recovery in mid-June, while the risk level for the strait and surrounding waters was assessed as “critical.” Separately, U.S. Central Command said on social media on July 8 (U.S. Eastern Time) that U.S. forces carried out additional strikes on Iran, marking a second consecutive day of attacks that the U.S. said were in response to recent Iranian strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s military responded by striking multiple U.S. targets in the Middle East, the report said.