325 transits in a week: Hormuz is slow, not shut, and the counters disagree

The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre counted 170 outbound and 155 inbound transits through the Strait of Hormuz in its latest weekly report, Gulf News reports, about 65 percent below pre-conflict levels¹. Desk arithmetic: 325 crossings in a week. Most ships with transponders switched on use the northern route along the Iranian coast¹. UKMTO’s own summary: “well below normal but not stalled”¹.

Three counters, three answers. The Joint Maritime Information Center sees single-digit to low double-digit daily transits on independent tracking; US naval coordination data recorded about 30 US-facilitated transits a day from 5 to 7 November, which UKMTO says it cannot independently verify¹. Many ships switch off their transponders, so traffic is likely undercounted¹. The disagreement is not a scandal; it is method, and it is worth knowing which number a headline uses.

The damage ledger. At least 11 ships were attacked in and around the strait in the week to 6 November, and three sank¹. UKMTO has recorded 88 projectile strikes since hostilities resumed in early July and says most attacks go unreported; the JMIC counts 177 incidents since 1 March and keeps its threat level at “severe”¹. On Monday UKMTO logged another tanker “attacked” off Khasab, Oman, with its crew evacuated¹. US Central Command says its blockade has redirected 147 vessels since July and disabled five that refused to comply¹.

The politics. President Trump said on Monday he plans to hold off on new military strikes against Iran for the time being, after appeals from countries in the region, and to keep the naval blockade in place for now². Markets took that as relief; the shipping data has not yet had a week to show whether it means anything at sea^2,1.

For you, the strait arrives as freight rates, insurance premiums and, months later, prices on shelves. The useful habit is to watch the weekly counts, not the speeches.