By Weilun Soon April 8, 2026 (Bloomberg) – Shipowners are quickly trying to understand the details of a ceasefire between the US and Iran that may temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This could allow over 800 vess...
By Weilun Soon
April 8, 2026 (Bloomberg) – Shipowners are quickly trying to understand the details of a ceasefire between the US and Iran that may temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This could allow over 800 vessels that are currently stuck in the Persian Gulf to exit.
This crucial waterway has been nearly closed since US and Israeli airstrikes at the end of February, which led Iran to tighten its control and created a serious energy supply crisis. Just before a deadline set by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement in exchange for reopening the strait.
However, there are still many uncertainties: Iran claims it has agreed to two weeks of safe passage in coordination with its military and “technical limitations,” while Trump announced a “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING.” In another social media post, Trump stated that the US would be “helping with the traffic build up” and would “hang around” to ensure the flow of maritime traffic.
Shipowners from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe are feeling both relieved and cautious about the possibility of reopening. Traffic around the strait did not change much on Wednesday, though many shipowners mentioned they were consulting with insurers and security advisors, preparing their vessels to move. Some preferred to stay unnamed due to the sensitivity of the situation.
“We will closely monitor the situation,” a representative from Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, said over the phone.
In the last six weeks, traffic through this busy energy route has significantly decreased compared to the usual 135 vessels that pass through daily during peaceful times.
“You can't just restart global shipping flows in 24 hours,” said Jennifer Parker, an adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia Defence and Security Institute. “Tanker owners, insurers, and crews need to believe that the risk has genuinely decreased — not just paused.”
According to data from Kpler, a large portion of the vessels stuck in the Gulf are energy transporters. Currently, there are 426 tankers carrying crude oil and clean fuels, along with 34 liquefied petroleum gas carriers and 19 liquefied natural gas vessels. Others are transporting dry goods, such as agricultural products or metals.
Lewis Hart, head of marine in Asia for insurance broker Willis Towers Watson, noted that while ceasefire plans are a necessary first step, they are just the beginning. “Even in a two-week window, we expect activities to resume gradually rather than all at once,” he stated.
Traders and shipowners will closely watch which vessels start moving through the strait in either direction and how they are managed. As of Wednesday morning, over 1,000 vessels were waiting on both sides, primarily around Dubai and Khor Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman.
“It’s encouraging to see the market responding this way, but this is just the first day of a fragile ceasefire,” said Michael Pregent, a former US Intelligence advisor. “We are likely to see the regime control who can move, what fees they’ll pay, and who will be denied passage.”
Notably, the first two ships attempting to leave since the announcement were seen heading towards Iran's Larak and Qeshm islands on Wednesday morning, according to ship-tracking data. One of them is the Tour 2, a Suezmax tanker flagged to Iran under US sanctions.
Next to it is the NJ Earth, a Greek-owned bulk carrier, whose voyage history in the Persian Gulf raises questions about possible spoofing to obscure its location or interference from electronic warfare. No contact information was available for its owner, NJ Earth Marine Ltd., or manager, NJ Trust Marine Ltd., on the database Equasis.
Other vessels associated with Iran are also reportedly moving towards Hormuz from within the Persian Gulf, but none have been spotted heading in the opposite direction.
The movement of LNG ships will be especially scrutinized, as no loaded carriers have successfully traversed the strait since the conflict began. A recent attempt by two tankers to pass through ended with a last-minute U-turn. Last year, about 20% of the world's LNG traffic went through Hormuz.
According to a tally by the International Maritime Organization at the end of March, around 20,000 civilian seafarers are stuck on ships and other support vessels that are trapped. These crew members face dwindling supplies, exhaustion, and psychological stress, as warned by the United Nations agency.