Hormuz Commodity-Vessel Transits Fall to 7 as Security Risks Mount

Key Facts

Preliminary ship-tracking data cited by Reuters showed 7 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, September 9, down from 12 on Tuesday, September 8, and below the 10-day average of 14.

Of the 7 tracked vessels, 4 exited the Gulf and 3 entered. The actual total may be higher because the count excludes ships transiting with their Automatic Identification System, or AIS, switched off.

Outbound traffic included 1 very large crude carrier, Finland Prosperity, carrying nearly 2 million barrels. No liquefied-natural-gas carrier exited. The other 3 outbound vessels were 2 dry-bulk carriers and 1 small dirty-products tanker.

The decline came against a deteriorating security backdrop. The International Maritime Organization had recorded 75 confirmed regional incidents and 22 seafarer fatalities through September 10, including damage to 3 vessels on September 8 and 9.

The numbers matter because 20.9 million barrels per day of oil moved through Hormuz in the first half of 2025, equivalent to about 20% of global petroleum-liquids consumption and 25% of seaborne oil trade. The strait also carried 11.4 billion cubic feet per day of liquefied natural gas, more than 20% of global trade in that fuel.

A single day's vessel count does not directly measure cargo volumes or lost supply, particularly when some transits may be untracked. Sustained weakness would nevertheless remain a risk to supply and prices because the principal pipelines able to bypass Hormuz provide only about 4.7 million barrels per day of combined capacity. Attention now turns to revised daily counts, maritime-security incidents and actual oil and gas flows.