Gaps in reporting attacks on merchant vessels are obscuring shipping conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, alongside divergent traffic figures and rival US and Iranian claims over control of the passage, gCaptain reported. UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in its Friday weekly review that most targeted vessels were declining to report incidents directly. It knew of further incidents through other channels but lacked sufficient verification to include them in its records.
UKMTO documented 12 attacks in its latest reporting period: 10 in the strait and one each in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Six vessels proceeded with their voyages or arrived at port, two were disabled or no longer under command, and three had unconfirmed damage or outcomes. The Singapore-flagged containership GFS Pride was lost following a projectile strike. Of 74 documented projectile strikes since July 6, 55 occurred on the southern route through the strait.
The uncertainty extends to commercial traffic. For the seven days to October 14, UKMTO counted 254 movements, comprising 129 inbound and 125 outbound transits, against 275 the previous week. Traffic remained about 70% below pre-conflict levels. Only 42 movements were observed through Automatic Identification System (AIS) data; the other 212 came from US-reported facilitated transits, including vessels not transmitting AIS. UKMTO said it could not independently verify the US figures or the resulting totals.
By contrast, US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said on Friday that roughly 400 merchant ships had passed through the strait during the preceding seven days. He also said US forces had helped Gulf partners transport more than 100 million barrels of crude over that period, taking US-assisted shipments in recent months beyond 1.3 billion barrels. Cooper did not give precise dates for his transit count, leaving different reporting windows or counting methods as possible explanations for the discrepancy, according to gCaptain.
Cooper maintained that US forces and regional partners controlled the waterway and that it remained open to commerce. Iranian army chief Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami said on Thursday that it would stay closed until Iranian people's rights were respected. An October 15 Joint Maritime Information Center advisory identified a northern Iranian-controlled route and a southern Omani corridor, warning that AIS-broadcasting vessels faced greater targeting risk and instructions to divert north. UKMTO said most vessels transmitting AIS still used the Iranian route, although US-facilitated movements represented most reported transits.