Hormuz traffic dips to lowest since May after US, Iranian strikes on ships
XLE•US and Iranian strikes escalate maritime conflict
U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said, including one off Kharg Island, Iran's key oil export hub, following attacks by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on U.S. warships in the region.
In retaliation, the IRGC navy said on Saturday it targeted three oil tankers travelling unauthorized routes in the strait as well as three additional U.S. vessels in other areas.
The three Iranian tankers were Downy, Stark I and Kylo, also known as Noxen, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said in a note.
The Saturday attacks represented a "major escalation in the maritime conflict", Marisks said.
"Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping," it added.
"Risk is therefore assessed as extreme for Iranian/Iran-linked tonnage and materially elevated for U.S.-linked or U.S.-escorted shipping throughout the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman."
Traffic through Strait of Hormuz falls to lowest since May
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - An average of 10 commodity ships transited the Strait of Hormuz per day over the past 10 days, the lowest since May, according to shipping data on Monday, after U.S. and Iranian strikes on tankers.
The 10-day moving average was 10 on Sunday, down from more than 15 on Friday and nearly 13 on Saturday, data from analytics firm Kpler found.
Only two vessels passed through the strait on Saturday while six went through on Sunday, mostly using the Iranian route.
