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Tracked Strait of Hormuz commodity-vessel traffic falls over the weekend
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Two crew members sustain minor injuries in tanker strike
An unknown projectile struck a tanker during an inbound Strait of Hormuz transit, UKMTO said September 21, citing military authorities. Two crew members sustained minor injuries, while the vessel remained under its own power and continued toward its next port. No environmental impact was reported. Authorities were investigating, and the retrieved evidence establishes neither the projectile’s origin nor the intent behind the incident. The strike is a new maritime-safety development but does not by itself show a broader change in commercial traffic through the strait.
Reuters: Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, two crew injured, UKMTO says · Tanker Hit by Projectile in Strait of Hormuz, UKMTO Reports
Export estimates show more oil moving than visible vessel counts suggest
Kpler provisionally estimated Saudi crude exports at just over 4 million barrels a day so far in September, up from 2.4 million in August. JPMorgan analysts separately estimated from satellite data that Saudi flows through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels a day over six days, compared with 700,000 in August. Reuters noted that escorted vessels may operate without transponders, explaining why export estimates can exceed visible-transit counts. The figures indicate a partial recovery, not normal shipping conditions.
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Visible weekend transits decline from 35 vessels to 12
Twelve trackable commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down from 35 the previous weekend, according to provisional Kpler data reported by Reuters. The count covers visible commodity-vessel traffic and may omit tankers operating without transponders, so it does not measure total flows. It is not directly comparable with an earlier CENTCOM traffic assessment, which covered different vessel categories and periods. Kpler separately recorded 18 tankers carrying 34 million barrels of crude leaving during the week of September 13, showing that substantial shipments continued.
Reuters: Vessels trickle through Strait of Hormuz as Mideast tension persists