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Middle East Conflict: Strait of Hormuz Transits Back To 90% Below “Normal”

Hellenic Shipping News · 2026-07-22

inInternational Shipping News22/07/2026

Summarising their latest update issued today at 10.00 am 20th July, Steve Gordon, Global Head of Clarksons Research commented:

  • Strait of Hormuz transits back to 90% below “pre-conflict” levels, with an average of 12 crossings per day over the past 5 days, (Mar-May: 10, first week of July: 45, pre-conflict: 125)
  • Across the weekend 18th and 19th July, transits remained limited (an average of ~12 transits per day)
  • In tonnage terms, transits have now fallen to >95% below ‘pre-conflict’ levels in recent days
  • The flow of energy leaving the Gulf continues to ease back, with an average of ~1.5m bpd of crude passing through Hormuz over the past week (down from 10m bpd in early July and 15m bpd pre-conflict); no “mainstream” VLGCs have left the Gulf in 10 days while no laden Qatari LNG carriers appear to have transited the Strait in nearly 2 weeks
  • Share of vessels passing “visibly” via the Oman route remains limited, accounting for 2% of all transits over the past 5 days, down from a 22% share in early July
  • Last week saw the highest level of vessel attacks (5 in total) in the Middle East over the past 2 months, with further incidents reported over the past 24 hours
  • Number of vessels waiting off Oman remains stable at elevated levels for now; ~385 vessels currently waiting off Oman, down 2% w-o-w but still 25% above start-June levels
  • Around 850 internationally trading vessels are currently in the Middle East Gulf, including 6% of VLCC, 3% of product tanker, 3% of LNG carrier capacity
  • For now, “energy” shipping markets remain elevated with alternatives, distance and disruption mitigating loss of volume
  • VLCC earnings are $128,000/day (+32% vs start-June), while Suezmax / Aframax earnings are up 63% / 68% over the same period to $148,000/day / $109,000/day though product tanker markets have been steadier (MR Clean: $25,000/day)

  • Supportive arbitrage dynamics have again developed, boosting gas carrier rates (VLGCs re-bounding to $145,000/day, LNG rates steady at >2x pre-conflict) Source: Clarksons Research

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