Today's Edition
PARIS (AFP)
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose to its highest rate in two months after a deal to halt the US-Iran war, maritime trackers said on Friday.
A total of 25 commercial vessels crossed the newly reopened strait on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from tracking firm AXSMarine.
The spike came after Iran and the United States agreed this week to re-open the crucial route under an agreement to end the war, but before the postponement of talks between the sides in Switzerland that had been planned for Friday under that deal.
On June 18 "we observed 25 verified commercial vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz -- the highest single-day count since 18 April and more than five times the average daily level recorded during the first ten days of June", AXSMarine said in a news release.
Before the war, about 120 vessels a day passed through the strait, according to shipping journal Lloyd's List.
A fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports passed through the strait in peacetime, according to economists.
AXSMarine said crossings averaged 7.6 a day from the start of March.
The closure of the strait during the war drove up global oil prices.
