Strait of Hormuz Traffic Plummets Amid Gulf Conflict

The sparse traffic included an empty Supramax dry bulk carrier and a petroleum tanker, both of which opted for discrete routes to minimize their profiles. This tactical shift underscores the mounting anxiety among commercial operators as Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen escalate and Houthi forces sustain a campaign of retaliatory drone strikes. The instability has effectively rippled outward, mirroring a similar reduction in activity at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. These combined disruptions to vital maritime chokepoints now threaten the reliability of global oil supplies and inject a new layer of volatility into international energy security markets.