Shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz rose slightly even as a geopolitical standoff persisted between the United States and Iran, while the market also monitored Iran-Oman talks about the waterway, data showed on Thursday. Visible commodity vessel transits at Hormuz totaled 10 on Wednesday, up slightly from eight on Tuesday, data from Kpler showed. This remained below a 10-day moving average of about 15 vessels. Two medium-range fuel tankers, a liquefied petroleum gas carrier, a Panamax-sized tanker, and three handymax-sized tankers entered the strait from the Gulf of Oman. A medium-range fuel tanker, a bitumen tanker and a bulk carrier exited the waterway from the Gulf. Iran and Oman are still working on the details of an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway and its revenue. Meanwhile, traffic slowed for a second day at the other key waterway of the Bab el-Mandeb strait. A total of 19 commodity vessels passed through Bab el-Mandeb on Wednesday, with six tankers that exited, including a very large crude carrier, down from 24 on the previous day, the Kpler data showed. Some vessels may be sailing at the key waterways with their transponders turned off and may be missed in the counts.
