Only 10 Tankers Transited Hormuz Strait Over the Past Week

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday March 24, 2026

Only around 10 tankers are estimated to have transited the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, according to Clarksons Research.

Those vessels carried about 12 million bbls, compared with a typical 250 tankers moving roughly 300 million bbls in a normal week, Steve Gordon, Global Head of Clarksons Research, said in an email update on Monday.

Gordon noted that around 75% of transits in the past week have been outbound, pointing to a market where vessels are primarily leaving the Gulf rather than entering it.

The imbalance suggests limited fresh cargo inflows and a continued drawdown of ships already positioned within the region.

Overall, transits across vessel types remain about 95% below pre-conflict levels, with activity reduced to just a handful of ships per day.

The disruption is also feeding into higher transport costs.

Clarksons estimates the cost of moving crude on a US Gulf-Asia route has risen to about $10/bbl, up from roughly $5/bbl at the start of the year, as longer routes and tighter vessel supply reshape trade flows.

Gas shipping is similarly constrained, with only a ‘trickle’ of very large LPG carriers continuing to pass through the strait, running at around 80% below normal levels.

At the same time, bunker prices have surged to a multi-month high at key ports.

This has led operators to adjust vessel speed for efficiency.

Clarkson's data suggests average container vessel speeds have eased by about 2% in March as operators adjust to higher fuel costs.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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