Sunday, April 19, 2026

JMIC update 034 for the Middle East maritime region shows Strait of Hormuz combined cargo and tanker transits averaging 7.5 vessels per day April 12-18 vs. 138 normally

 But tankers exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz average just 2 per day April 12-18.

After the 13th, just 10 tankers have exited over 5 days, also 2 per day. 

Tankers transiting the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to and from the Red Sea, whether northwest (3.5/day) and possibly through the Suez or southeast (4/day) and headed to East Asia, average 7.5 per day.

Suezmax tankers carrying up to 1 million barrels of oil are the largest which can pass fully laden through the Suez.

Before the war, a dozen or so VLCCs, which have a capacity of 2 million barrels, transited the Strait of Hormuz daily out of 65-70 tankers which did so.

Total SoH tanker exits daily used to average 25-30.

Yanbu on the Red Sea can fill 2-5 tankers daily depending on the size (maybe 4 Suezmax), plus 2 per day out of the Persian Gulf, so we are at the max operating at 23% of normal tanker exits in the last week (7/30).

And again, that's just tankers, not a statement of actual oil volume.

And which of these were stopped by the U.S. Navy after transit only the Navy knows, as do people whose full time job it is to know, which isn't me. 

If Monday pays attention to reality, oil prices will rise.