Hormuz shipping traffic in single digits, data shows

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Sept 10 — Vessel transits via the Strait of Hormuz fell on Wednesday to seven ​from 12 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Thursday, with levels also below the 10-day average of 14.

Out of ‌these seven ships, four vessels exited and three entered, according to the data.

Some vessels could ⁠be sailing through the waterway with ​their transponders turned off and would ⁠not be counted toward the totals.

Of the exits, one was a ‌very large crude carrier - ‌Finland Prosperity - carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude.

No tankers ⁠carrying liquefied natural gas left the Strait.

The ⁠remaining three exits were made by two dry bulk carriers and a short-range dirty products tanker.

Meanwhile, of the three ships that entered, one was a dry bulk carrier and the other two were a short-range tanker and a medium-range-sized tanker.

At the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, 28 ‌commodity ships sailed through it on Wednesday, similar ​to the 10-day average of 27.

Of the total, 16 ships entered and 12 exited.

RED SEA LOADINGS REBOUND FROM 6-MONTH LOW

Saudi Arabia's crude and condensate loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu — a key hub to bypass the Strait of Hormuz — rebounded so far in September, having hit a six-month low in August, according to ship-tracking data ​from Kpler and Vortexa.

Yanbu loadings have risen to 3.7 million barrels per day (bpd) ‌in September from ‌3.2 ⁠million bpd in August, which was the lowest level since the start of the Iran war, according to Vortexa.

Kpler estimated lower loadings at 2.9 million bpd in September, compared with just 1.5 million bpd a month earlier.

Yanbu ‌loadings declined in late July ​and August due to intensifying attacks ‌by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis near the ⁠Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

(Reporting ​by Trixie Yap and Enes Tunagur; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Thomas Derpinghaus and ​Tomasz Janowski)

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