O Strait of Hormuz is an important maritime route that crosses the territorial waters of the Iran and Omanbeing considered a crucial bottleneck for the global transportation of oil.
The northern part – located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman – is controlled by Iran.
According to US government data, around 20% of the world’s oil and gas normally passes through its maritime routes. These shipments are mainly oil and oil products from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
One of 2025 from the US government’s Energy Information Administration noted that “there are very few alternative options for getting oil out of the strait if it is closed,” adding that the flow of oil through there was about 20 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have some pipeline infrastructure to bypass the . But generally speaking, most of the oil flowing into the Gulf has no alternative means of leaving the region.
So what is happening to shipping amid the strikes in the region?
Total traffic across the Strait was down about 75% by the end of yesterday compared with the day before, according to a senior risk and compliance analyst at data firm Kpler. Many vessels have turned around or begun idling to avoid the area since Iran began retaliatory strikes, told Kpler .
Oman’s maritime security center reported on Sunday that an oil tanker, named “Skylight”, was wholesale about five nautical miles off the coast of Masandam, Oman, injuring four people.
Danish shipping company Maersk and German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd suspended ship crossings in the Strait on Sunday due to the high threat.
