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Iran’s move to shut the Strait of Hormuz has brought shipping through the 24-mile stretch of water close to a standstill.
Only a handful of vessels have transited in recent days, many switching off their tracking systems or linked to “shadow fleets”.
“They can’t physically close a waterway of that size, but the threat is there”, said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of maritime risk company Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
Mr Meade said Iran has a proven history of using everything from ballistic missiles to unmanned aerial and seaborne drones.
What is making it through?
Sky News’ Data & Forensics team has focused on 13 ships that have transited the Strait of Hormuz between 2 and 9 March.
We know the real number of crossings is much higher, as some ships turn their tracking system off, a practice known as going “dark”.
Data from marine analytics firm IMF Portwatch suggests that in normal times, about 30,000 ships transit the strait per year, that’s 82 per day.
The animation below shows how shipping traffic dramatically changed.
Of the ships we have identified passing through the Strait of Hormuz, many have links to Iran, China or Russia. There are also ships from Greece, India, the UAE and Singapore.
Five vessels managed by Greek firm Dynacom have transited the Strait since the war began, according to marine tracking data from Kpler.
US President Donald Trump has been urging shipowners to “show some guts” and keep sailing.
‘Shadow Fleet’ have crossed the most
Shadow fleet tankers dominate current crossings of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
They found that, of the 13 large…
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