DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz has slowed to near standstill after two more commercial vessels were attacked, while the United States warned that it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and impose further economic pressure on Tehran.
Only a handful of vessels were observed transiting the narrow waterway on Friday, according to shipping data analyzed by Kpler and reported by Reuters. Two vessels were recorded passing through the strait, while a separate empty liquefied petroleum products tanker was sailing into the Gulf. No crude oil shipments were visible in the Friday data.
The sharp decline followed attacks on two vessels operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company on Thursday evening. The United Arab Emirates blamed Iran for the attacks, while Iran had not immediately issued a response. The vessels sustained no reported casualties, according to ADNOC and the UAE government.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center reported that two vessels suffered minor damage in drone attacks while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. AP reported that the UAE described the attacks as a violation of freedom of navigation and accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of using the waterway as a tool of economic coercion.
The latest attacks came as tensions between Washington and Tehran continued to intensify following the breakdown of efforts to revive a June agreement aimed at ending the war. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that there had been no progress in talks, while Iran has maintained that it will not allow the waterway to fully reopen unless its conditions, including the removal of economic sanctions and release of frozen Iranian assets, are met.
On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. Navy could sustain its blockade of Iran indefinitely by rotating naval forces in and out of the region. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent separately warned that Washington would introduce additional financial measures against Iran in the coming week.
The competing claims over control of the waterway have further complicated efforts to restore normal commercial shipping. Iran’s Basij paramilitary chief said the Strait of Hormuz was under Iranian control and management, while Washington has asserted that it has control of the strategic passage and has maintained a naval presence in the region.
The scale of the disruption is significant. Reuters reported that nine commodity vessels crossed the strait on Thursday, up from five on Wednesday but still below the August daily average of 12. That is a dramatic reduction from the more than 130 vessels that passed through the waterway each day before the war began in February. Some vessels may not appear in tracking data because their transponders are switched off.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that oil flows through the strait averaged about 20.9 million barrels per day in the first half of 2025, equivalent to roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption at the time.
The International Energy Agency describes Hormuz as the primary export route for oil produced by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran. Most of the oil leaving the strait is destined for Asian markets, particularly China, India and Japan.
The disruption has already substantially reduced oil flows. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that crude oil and petroleum liquids transported through Hormuz averaged only 4.9 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 21.6 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025 before the conflict began.
The International Maritime Organization has documented the growing toll on commercial shipping. As of August 11, it had recorded 65 confirmed maritime incidents in the Middle East since the conflict began, with 17 confirmed seafarer fatalities. The incidents include vessels damaged, abandoned or subjected to attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.
Maritime security authorities continue to classify the region as a high-risk operating environment. The Joint Maritime Information Center, which provides maritime security assessments for the region, has warned of heightened naval activity, electronic interference and the continuing threat to commercial vessels operating around the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Gulf.
The worsening shipping disruption is also putting upward pressure on global energy markets. Reuters reported Friday that Brent crude futures were trading around $87 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was around $81 a barrel. Asian refiners have also been adjusting their supply strategies, with India increasing its purchases of Russian crude and Asian refineries buying additional U.S. crude to secure future supplies.
The International Energy Agency has warned that the Hormuz disruption represents an exceptional threat to global energy security. Its July oil market report said global oil supply had partially recovered as flows through the strait resumed, but remained well below pre-war levels and depended heavily on a rapid de-escalation of hostilities.
For now, there is little indication that normal commercial traffic is returning. With Iran maintaining restrictions on passage, the United States threatening prolonged naval enforcement and additional sanctions, and commercial vessels facing renewed attacks, the Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of an escalating confrontation with consequences extending far beyond the Persian Gulf.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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