BBC:
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen steeply after a series of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran following an attack on three tankers earlier this week.
Just 23 tankers and cargo ships crossed the critical Gulf waterway on Wednesday, according to the maritime intelligence firm Kpler, down from 47 from a week before.
The three ships that were struck this week were using a US-recommended route through Omani waters. Iran has repeatedly said the only “safe” route is separate route through its waters.
For decades vessels have been given free passage through the strait, through which more than a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies as well as fertiliser shipments and other vital goods flow.
Before the conflict began an average of 138 ships crossed through the strait each day, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a multinational maritime group including the US.
After the US and Israel launched its first strikes on Iran on 28 February, this fell to just a handful of ships per day,
Iran effectively closing the strait by attacking ships attempting to cross and laying mines and the US responded with a blockade on all shipping to and from Iranian ports.
A deal to end the war, which was signed on 17 June, included steps to re-open the strait. Washington also agreed to lift its naval blockade and ease sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
