Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply over the weekend of 16–17 August 2026, with shiptracking data showing just five commodity vessels transiting the strait on Saturday and none registered on Sunday, down from 31 in the prior weekend, following attacks on tankers and stalled U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict.
According to Kpler data, ships entering the strait on Saturday included an empty Very Large Crude Carrier with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off and an Indian-flagged Very Large Gas Carrier that used the Iranian route. A small tanker laden with Iranian fuel oil exited the strait, the data showed.
Shipping appeared to grind to a near standstill after the United Arab Emirates said three vessels operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) were attacked in transit last week. The UAE strongly condemned the hostile Iranian attacks on two ADNOC-affiliated vessels as they transited the Strait of Hormuz on 13–14 August, saying no injuries were reported but describing the incidents as “piracy” and a threat to international navigation.
The United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Washington must meet Iran’s conditions regarding the strait in order for shipping to resume. The waterway handled about a fifth of the world’s shipments of crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran in February 2026.
Some ships may pass through undetected with transponders off, but the figures are far from the more than 130 ships a day that traversed the Strait of Hormuz before the war. By mid-August, daily crossings had collapsed into single digits, with only three vessels transiting on Sunday, 17 August, down from five on Saturday and 12 on Friday, according to Kpler. Around 520 commercial vessels were estimated to be stuck in the Arabian Gulf, with the backlog expected to take up to eight weeks to clear even if the waterway is quickly cleared of mines.
At the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where Yemeni Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on 20 July, Kpler data showed 49 weekend transits by commodity vessels, down from 55 in the prior week. There were no tracked Saudi oil shipments through the strait, as Saudi Arabia has largely rerouted Asia-bound crude away from Bab el-Mandeb after Houthi militants began attacking tankers, adding another constraint to Gulf exports alongside disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi crude flows from Yanbu through Bab el-Mandeb reportedly fell nearly 90 per cent in early August, while loadings at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir surged to a record 2.17 million barrels per day, largely supplied through the SUMED pipeline. Other cargoes are being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, adding transit time, freight costs and pressure on tanker availability, while some vessels are operating with transponders switched off to reduce exposure to attacks.