On Wednesday, commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz plunged, with only
a handful of Iran-linked vessels transiting, underscoring erratic passage
through one of the world's most important energy chokepoints. Bloomberg-compiled
vessel-tracking data showed only two vessels entered the Persian Gulf that day,
while a fuel-oil tanker appeared to pause while exiting. The slowdown followed a
day in which two international ultra-large oil tankers exited the waterway,
producing a brief surge in outbound energy shipments. The volatility comes as
markets await the outcome of US-Iran talks aimed at ending a conflict that had
nearly closed the Strait. Earlier, Iran's state TV reported a draft memorandum
of understanding (MoU) and said maritime shipping could normalize within a
month; the US denied that report.
