Daily vessel transits of the Strait of Hormuz were steady at three for each of the past three days, according to preliminary shiptracking data, amid continuing shipping risks in the Middle East and as oil prices surged back to $100 a barrel.
Three vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day from July 22 to July 24, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.
On Friday, one more laden very large crude carrier (VLCC) — Romania Prosperity — appeared off Fujairah outside the strait with Murban crude, though its destination is so far unknown, and two empty soft commodity bulk carriers exited the strait into the Persian Gulf.
On Thursday, VLCC New Giant, loaded with two million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude, exited the strait and was due to arrive at China's Rizhao port by mid-August.
Another two ships — including empty VLCC Noble — also entered the gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
The US military said late on Thursday that it had completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran.
Meanwhile, at the Bab el-Mandeb strait, commodity vessel transits totalled 32 on July 23, up from 26 the day before, Kpler data showed, with two crossings for July 24 so far.
Of the crossings on Thursday, 14 vessels were going into the Red Sea and 18 were exiting the strait into the Gulf of Aden.
Out of the 18 ships exiting Bab el-Mandeb, nine were carrying crude oil, including two loaded Chinese supertankers bound for China.
Separately, the clean tanker Torm Innovation — loaded with around 500,000 barrels of naphtha bound for Asia — has made a slight turn for the Suez Canal exit instead of a typical Bab el-Mandeb exit, Kpler and LSEG shiptracking data showed.
Rerouting ships via the Suez Canal to Asia instead of via the Bab el-Mandeb strait could make the voyage last nearly three times as long, regional trade sources said.
Saudi Aramco has started offering additional crude cargoes loading at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir as a workaround from loading at its Red Sea ports.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Tom Hogue)
