By Prejula Prem and Julian Lee
April 25, 2026 – The Strait of Hormuz is mostly empty of merchant vessels right now, with only a few ships linked to Tehran moving through this critical waterway. This follows a week of high tensions marked by attacks on Iranian gunboats and tanker interceptions by the US Navy.
As of Saturday morning, tracking data shows that only two small fuel carriers and one tiny coastal cargo ship, all connected to Tehran, are leaving the Persian Gulf through this waterway. No ships were detected coming in.
While Iran is still filling supertankers with millions of barrels of oil, the US Navy is holding several of these ships near the maritime border with Pakistan, creating a logjam that highlights the challenges faced by Iran's oil exports.
Tensions have increased this week as Iran has shown its control over the Strait of Hormuz, while the US maintains its naval blockade. Efforts to negotiate a peace deal have not made much progress. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has traveled to Pakistan ahead of US envoys, but there is little hope for direct talks to resolve the conflict affecting global energy markets.
The US has intensified its pressure by sanctioning Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., one of China’s largest private oil refiners, for buying oil from Iran. This action is part of a wider effort to cut off buyers of Iranian oil, with China being the largest importer.
Ships passing through Hormuz with active Automatic Identification System signals over the last day were limited to a narrow northern lane near the Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm, the route approved by Iran.
The US blockade may lead ships linked to Iran to turn off their tracking signals when entering or leaving the Persian Gulf to avoid detection. This makes it difficult to get an accurate understanding of the traffic in the waterway, meaning transit figures may be adjusted higher when vessels are spotted again far from the risky areas.
Even before the latest US restrictions, it was common for Iran-linked ships to stop sending signals as they entered the Strait of Hormuz. They typically didn’t turn them back on until they were well into the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia, approximately 13 days from Iran’s Kharg Island.