Maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to just six vessels on Monday, down from a 10-day average of roughly 11, according to tracking data from Kpler. The decline comes as prospects for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement continue to dim. Data compiled early Tuesday revealed that four commodity ships—including two ballast oil product tankers—entered the strategic transit point, while two loaded vessels exited: a small liquefied petroleum gas tanker and a residual fuel carrier. Before the outbreak of hostilities, daily transits through the waterway typically ranged between 130 and 140 ships.

By contrast, vessel movement through the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandeb strait remained steady, recording 25 transits on Monday compared to its 10-day average of nearly 24 ships.

The maritime slowdown follows a fresh diplomatic impasse between Washington and Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump countered Iran’s proposed peace terms by demanding financial reparations for victims of conflict, regional attacks, and political unrest. Tehran had previously conditioned peace on sanctions relief and compensation, aligning with the framework of a preliminary accord signed in June that subsequently collapsed. Since hostilities broke out in February, U.S. executive rhetoric has continuously alternated between warnings of military escalation and claims of an imminent diplomatic resolution.

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