Only 28 Vessels Pass through Hormuz in a Week as Iran Tightens Hold, War
Risk Insurance Rises to more than 25% of Cargo Value
Iran has allowed a small number of vessels
to pass, but that won’t alleviate pressure or risk for the shipping industry and
energy markets any time soon.
1.
Maritime traffic through the strait has fallen by around
95% compared to pre-war levels, severely affecting global oil and gas
supply.
2.
Daily traffic has slowed dramatically, with only 2–6
vessels passing through per day, compared to an average of about 138
ships daily before the conflict.
3.
On March 26, Iran reportedly allowed a one-time
passage of around 10 oil tankers, mostly Pakistani-flagged, as a diplomatic
gesture.
4.
For the entire month of March so far, only about
100 ships have exited the Gulf and 40 ships have entered, showing the scale
of the disruption.
[ABS News Service/27.03.2026]
As
of late March 2026, the Strait of Hormuz is experiencing a severe maritime
blockade due to the ongoing conflict involving Iran. Standard traffic has
dropped by approximately 95% from pre-war levels.
Current Tanker Presence
and Traffic
The
following figures represent the status of oil carriers in and around the strait
as of March 27, 2026:
Vessels "Inside"
(Persian Gulf):
Approximately 500 tanker vessels are currently confined within the Persian
Gulf.
This
includes 108 crude oil tankers and 166 oil product tankers.
A
massive backlog of nearly 2,000 total ships is waiting on both sides of the
strait.
Daily Exiting/Entering
(Outbound/Inbound):
Current transit has slowed to a "trickle" compared to the pre-war
average of 138 ships per day.
Average Daily Flow: Only 2 to 6 vessels are successfully
crossing the strait daily.
Specific Monthly Counts: For the entire month of March so far,
only about 100 ships have exited the Gulf and 40 have entered.
Recent "Gift"
Passage: On March 26,
it was reported that Iran allowed a one-time passage of 10 oil tankers (mostly
Pakistani-flagged) as a diplomatic gesture.
1.
A month into the war with the United States
and Israel, Iran is using its control over the Strait of
Hormuz to pressure global shipping.
2.
Ship operators have stopped sending vessels through
the strait due to fear of Iranian attacks, causing a sharp fall in oil and gas
supplies and a spike in global energy prices.
3.
Iran has allowed only a limited number of ships —
mainly those headed to Asia — while threatening vessels linked to the United
States, Israel and their allies.
4.
Ship traffic remains at historically low levels,
with nearly 3,000 vessels waiting to pass through the strait, compared
to around 120 ships per day in normal times.
5.
According to maritime data firms, only 28
vessels passed through the strait in one week, showing that shipping
activity has not returned to normal despite Iran’s claims that the route is
open.
6.
The crisis has hit Asian economies the hardest,
as many countries depend heavily on energy supplies transported through the
Strait of Hormuz.
7.
Insurance costs for ships have surged sharply, with
war-risk insurance rising to around 20% of the value of ships or cargo,
making shipping even more expensive.
8.
The conflict has also increased geopolitical
tensions, with the United States considering naval escorts while NATO
members are discussing steps to ensure safe passage through the strait.
9.
Analysts warn that even if a ceasefire is reached, oil
supply disruptions and high energy prices could continue for weeks due to
congestion and delays in shipping.
A
month into its war with the United States and Israel, Iran is still using its stranglehold
on the Strait of Hormuz to its advantage.
Fearing
Iranian attacks, ship operators stopped sending their vessels through the strait.
That has led to a sharp reduction in supplies of energy products — and a spike in
oil and gas prices. The shortages have roiled the economies of many countries, especially
those in Asia.
In
recent days, Tehran has projected itself as the controller of the waterway, saying
it will let ships from certain countries go through the strait, through which a
fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies travels in normal times. Iran has allowed
the passage of a small number of ships, most apparently headed for Asia, but it
has continued to threaten vessels linked to Israel, the United States and its allies.
Ship
traffic through the strait is still at historically low levels. It is estimated
that nearly 3,000 vessels are waiting nearby to pass through the strait, according
to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Typically, roughly 120 ships pass through
it each day.
On
Thursday, President Trump said Iran had said it was going to let eight ships pass
as a show of sincerity ahead of talks with the United States. Efforts to mediate
a cease-fire have so far not been successful.
Every
day tankers sit idle, the greater the stress on the global economy. And Iran’s policy
of allowing a small number of approved vessels to transit the strait will not alleviate
the pressures, shipping and energy analysts said.
“We
have not yet seen a meaningful ramp-up,” said Ana Subasic, a trade risk analyst
at Kpler, a maritime data firm. In the seven days through
Wednesday, 28 vessels had made it through the narrow waterway, according to data
from MarineTraffic, a division of Kpler.
That number, which includes vessels trying to avoid detection, was up from 20 ships
in the seven days through March 18.
Kpler says 18 ships in the Middle East have been
attacked since the start of the war. Right now, there is not enough certainty to
risk a passage, ship operators say.
“We’re looking for some kind of reassurances that
the traffic can safely resume through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Jan Rindbo, the
head of Norden, a Danish tanker company with seven vessels stuck in the Persian
Gulf. “I think those signals are not yet there.”
In
a letter circulated on Tuesday to members of the United Nations International Maritime
Organization, Iran said that it would allow nonhostile vessels to go through the
strait. It defined such vessels as those that “neither participate in nor support
acts of aggression against Iran.” The definition excluded ships belonging to the
United States or Israel.
Iranian
officials had declared the strait open to certain ships before the letter.
Iran’s
statements are “likely to encourage those states most exposed to shipping disruption
to seek alternative mechanisms directly with Iran while the conflict is ongoing,”
said Jack Kennedy, head of Middle East country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
But
while some shipowners may decide to take Iran up on its offer, many others will
not because they can’t be certain their vessels won’t be targeted, analysts said.
Iran may unilaterally determine that a ship has links to Israel or the United States
and attack it.
“Because
it is tricky to define ‘nonhostile’ vessels, I don’t expect companies to immediately
start sending ships through the strait,” Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, said in an email.
Another
deterrent, she said, was Iran’s requirement that ships get permits, and that they
coordinate with the country’s maritime authority. In normal times, vessels do not
need Iran’s permission to go through the strait, which functions as an international
waterway. “Iran is further complicating the shipping crisis,” Ms. Raydan said.
Shipping
companies may also not want to pay fees to Iran. An Iranian parliamentary official
recently said Iran was charging vessels $2 million to go through the strait.
The
United States and Israel have been trying to destroy Iran’s navy and the weapons
it can use to attack vessels. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike killed an Iranian
naval commander who played a pivotal role in shutting down the Strait of Hormuz,
Israel’s defense minister said.
The
United States has sent troops to the Middle East that in theory could be used to
force a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But such operations might risk casualties
and perhaps prompt Iran to attack more energy-producing facilities in the Gulf States.
Another
complication for shipping is getting affordable insurance to cover the risks of
sailing in a war zone. “War risk” insurance is available, but the cost of such coverage
has soared, industry participants said.
Oscar
Seikaly, chief executive of NSI Insurance Group, an insurance brokerage, said war
coverage had leaped from almost nothing before the conflict to around 20 percent
of the value of the ship or cargo. That was the cost of insuring
a recent shipment of fertilizer from the Persian Gulf to Europe, he said.
Mr.
Seikaly added that vessels would have to pay that rate each time they go through
the Strait of Hormuz. He said statements from Iranian leaders saying the waterway
was open to ships from countries not involved in war had prompted insurance companies
to consider providing coverage during the war. “Otherwise, the insurance companies
would have said, ‘No, I won’t do it for any cost,’” he said.
Shipping
companies may be more likely to make the passage through the strait if they have
a naval escort as protection. Three weeks ago, Mr. Trump said the United States
might provide an escort. He later said other countries should assemble such a force.
The
head of NATO said on Thursday that Europe needed time to “come together” to make
sure the Strait of Hormuz is open for all countries.
Speaking
in Brussels, Secretary General Mark Rutte said NATO members and other countries
were planning how “to make sure that the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lanes, are open.”
But he added that it was not clear when that might happen.
Shipping
companies will feel most reassured by a peace or cease-fire agreement struck directly
between the warring countries. But even then, it could take well over a month to
get tankers moving at peacetime frequency, which means pressures in the oil and
gas markets could remain for a while.
“Congestion
levels will probably delay, or prevent, transits recovering to prewar levels for
weeks,” Mr. Kennedy, the analyst, said.