Ship Traffic Halts at Strait of Hormuz After Attacks; U.S. Navy Fires on Iranian Cargo Ship

Commercial ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz briefly jumped over the weekend before slowing to a trickle again after several attacks on vessels. At least 20 ships transited the strait on Saturday ranging from oil tankers to dry bulk and container ships, according to data from LSEG. The big oil tanker FPMC C Lord crossed the strait loaded with 2 million barrels of Saudi crude on its way to Taiwan, the data showed. But traffic came to a standstill Sunday, after attacks on commercial ships demonstrated that the security situation remains dangerous. Oil prices rose about 6% Monday as traffic in the strait remains low. At least least seven ships crossed the sea lane Monday in a slight uptick. Iran declared the strait open to commercial ships Friday in response to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon. But Tehran said it closed the sea lane a day later after President Donald Trump refused to lift the blockade of Iran's ports. Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired on a tanker Saturday and an unknown projectile hit a container ship, according to incident reports from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The vessels were apparently Indian. New Delhi told Iran Saturday it was deeply concerned that two ships sailing under its flag had been attacked in the strait. The U.S. Navy on Sunday fired on an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman and the Marines took control of the vessel. Trump said the ship was trying to run the U.S. naval blockade of Iran.