Some ships still crossing Strait of Hormuz despite security threat

A small number of vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, despite the heightened security threats as Tehran and Washington battle for control of the strategic waterway.

Just 14 vessels -- half of which were commercial ships -- crossed on Sunday, according to data from maritime tracker Kpler, suggesting the waterway is not completely closed as Iran had announced.

At least three commodity vessels crossed so far on Monday, according to Kpler.


However, traffic is significantly disrupted by security risks after Iran attacked another ship on Saturday and exchanged strikes with the United States near the waterway.

Sunday recorded the lowest daily number of transits since June 13, before a memorandum of understanding outlining a fragile truce between the US and Iran briefly boosted traffic through the strait.

Half of vessels that crossed on Sunday were Iran-flagged.

Amongst the non-Iranian traffic, only two vessels crossed with their transponders switched on -- one crossed through the Iranian route and another passed through the peacetime shipping corridor, which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has warned is currently unsafe because of the risk of sea mines.

According to Kpler, no ship over the weekend passed through the Omani route with its transponder switched on.

But the US-supported corridor in the southern part of the strait remains in use, according to Barun Gupta, an analyst at maritime intelligence provider Vanguard Tech.

He told AFP on Monday that some Vanguard Tech clients crossed through that route with US support.

"The US is able to provide support to vessels by, for example, shooting down projectiles or advising them on the best time to cross", Gupta said.

However, the risk is high.

"Any vessel that Iran perceives to be US- or Israeli-affiliated, or that transits without coordination with Iranian authorities or outside Iran-designated routes, could attract heightened scrutiny," he said.

Four ships have been attacked so far in July according to the IMO, and Iran claimed on Monday that it had fired "warning shots" at two ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to charge all cargo shipped through Hormuz to pay for keeping the strait open, and to reinstate a blockade lifted last month on Iranian ships.