US sees 220+ tankers near Hormuz

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has not snapped back. As of April 26, ships are still moving through in very small numbers after Iran reclosed the waterway on April 18. (cnbc.com) (usnews.com) The strongest recent datapoint is a brief burst on Saturday, April 19, when more than 20 vessels passed through the strait, according to Kpler data reported by Reuters. That was the highest one-day count since March 1. (al-monitor.com) (yahoo.com) That rebound did not last. By April 22 and April 23, LSEG and Windward data showed only about six to nine vessels transiting on a given day, far below normal traffic. (cnbc.com) (insights.windward.ai) The image of a giant flotilla “near Hormuz” comes from days of congestion around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula and the Gulf approaches, where Reuters photographs on April 18 showed large numbers of tankers and other ships waiting offshore. Reuters photos alone do not establish a precise count of 220 or more vessels on April 26. (reutersconnect.com 1) (reutersconnect.com 2) There is reporting for a large backlog earlier in April. The Week, citing traffic data, reported about 230 tankers waiting on April 10, and Kpler said in March that 247 MR-size-or-larger vessels remained stranded in the Middle East Gulf. (theweek.in) (kpler.com) The immediate trigger for the latest freeze was the breakdown of a short-lived reopening. Iran said on April 18 that it was tightening control again, and India said two Indian-flagged ships came under fire in the strait. (usnews.com) (anewz.tv) At the same time, the United States has kept pressure on Iranian shipping. Reuters reported on April 22 that the U.S. military intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters, and CNBC reported both Washington and Tehran were seizing ships during the ceasefire. (msn.com) (cnbc.com) For oil markets, the core fact is the strait’s scale. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas exports normally move through Hormuz, which is why even a partial shutdown quickly lifts freight and insurance costs. (cnbc.com) Insurance pressure is visible in market reporting. S&P Global said marine war insurance for Hormuz had dried up in early March as the regional war intensified. (spglobal.com) So the cleanest version of the story is narrower than the viral claim: there is clear evidence of severe disruption, intermittent queues, and very low transit counts, but not a verified public count showing “220+ tankers near Hormuz” today. (cnbc.com) (theweek.in)