No commercial vessels used the U.S.-backed southern Hormuz route on Friday, while Iran’s approved channel carried seven transits, underscoring Tehran’s continued control of strait traffic.
Iranian drone and missile threats have kept shipowners away despite more than a week of U.S. bombardment and radio assurances that the southern route remains open for lawful commerce.
India has barred its crews from Hormuz transits after an Iranian attack killed a sailor, and Japan’s foreign trade council has labeled the strait a no-go zone while fighting continues.
About 20 million barrels a day moved through Hormuz before the late-February war, but exporters have shifted flows to stockpiles, covert shipping, trucks and pipelines in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Syria.
Goldman Sachs estimates new regional pipeline capacity could shield over 45% of prewar Gulf exports by end-2027 and more than 60% by end-2028, potentially cutting oil markets’ reliance on Hormuz.