Middle East tanker transits May 19-25, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 2.4/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 16.4/day

 The table shown below is from JMIC Update 50.

The previous update was JMIC Update 48, the table in which in comparison with the one in 47 looked hopelessly screwed up, so I guess they just skipped an Update 49 and started fresh on May 19 lol.

There is no overlap in the table in 50 with the previous table, which has been the customary procedure from update to update. 

BAM NW averages 8.7/day, BAM SE 7.7/day.

Keep in mind NW tankers which transit north to fill at Yanbu, then leave and transit south again can thus become SE transits in addition to NW transits in the totals. Most of these tankers are making this round trip, and most of them are 2-million barrel capacity very large crude carriers which sail in empty and sail out again full. 

SoH E transits average just 1.6/day.

 

Middle East tanker transits per UKMTO JMIC Update 47 May 12-18, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 2.00/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 15.42/day

The tanker table for JMIC Update 48 is a mess. It has the wrong dates, and five days of data are identical to the data in Update 47.

There was also a duplicate JMIC 46 update a few days ago, just minutes apart.

It is what it is.

From JMIC 47

From JMIC 48 (the dates should be 14 May-20 May like the Cargo Vessels table, but somehow the exact same data for May 12-16 from Update 47 reappears!)

 

From JMIC Update 46 for Middle East tanker transits May 10-16, 2026: SoH 2.71 per day, BAM 13.57 per day

 

From JMIC Update 45: Bab-el-Mandeb Strait tanker transits average 13.42/day May 7-13, 2026

 Strait of Hormuz 1.57/day.

BAM tanker transits aren't even up to 2022's average of 30/day. The crisis of the oil trade is not being significantly ameliorated by Red Sea operations.

 

Estimates continue to put 5 million barrels per day leaving Yanbu, much of it heading to buyers in east Asia.

Fujairah in the UAE exports shy of 2 million barrels per day, also to the east. 

Iran's exports in April are said to be shy of 1 million barrels per day.

Kuwait exported nothing.

Iraq exported maybe 0.131 million barrels per day.

So 8.1 million barrels per day in April?

21.0 million barrels per day left the region in 2022. 

 

Update 5/18/26:

IEA estimates 8 mb/day bypassing Strait of Hormuz, flows still far below pre-war levels.

 

For May 3-11, tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz have been averaging 1.2/day, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 13.4/day

 Per the JMIC Updates 43 and 44.

IMF: Transits through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait remain half of what they were prior to the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 and have not come close to replacing lost Persian Gulf shipping

 ... In the Red Sea, attacks on shipping that began in 2023 forced many vessels to reroute around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal. More than two years on, transits through the Bab el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti remain stuck at roughly half their pre-attack level. ...

More.

 

JMIC Update 42 for tanker traffic in the Middle East April 30-May 6 2026

Middle East Tanker Traffic April 30-May 6, 2026

Strait of Hormuz E: 1.14/day

Strait of Hormuz W: 1.14/day

Total: 2.28/day

Normal (2022): 70/day

Down 96.7%

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait SE: 7.28/day

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait NW: 8.14/day

Total: 15.42/day

Normal (2022): 30/day

Down 48.6%

 

 

Current Bab-al-Mandeb tanker traffic at the end of April 2026 appears consistent with 1Q2026 Suez Canal tanker traffic, nothing more

 Suez Canal Tanker Traffic 1Q26 v 1Q22

 

SOUTH

Tankers per day +1.6 to 7.5

Tonnage per ship +16.7% 

NORTH

Tankers per day +0.3 to 7.9

Tonnage per ship +18.9% 

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait Tanker Traffic 4/28-5/4/2026

SOUTH

7.42/day

NORTH

8.14/day 

JMIC Update 41 for tanker traffic in the Middle East April 28-May 4 2026

Middle East Tanker Traffic April 28-May 4, 2026

Strait of Hormuz E: 1.85/day

Strait of Hormuz W: 1.28/day

Total: 3.13/day

Normal (2022): 70/day

Down 95.5%

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait SE: 7.42/day

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait NW: 8.14/day

Total: 15.56/day

Normal (2022): 30/day

Down 48.1%

 

JMIC Update 40 for tanker traffic in the Middle East April 26-May 2, 2026

Middle East Tanker Traffic April 26-May 2, 2026

Strait of Hormuz E: 1.85/day

Strait of Hormuz W: 1.28/day

Total: 3.13/day

Normal (2022): 70/day

Down 95.5%

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait SE: 7.0/day

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait NW: 7.42/day

Total: 14.42/day

Normal (2022): 30/day

Down 51.9%

 

 

JMIC Update 39 for tanker traffic in the Middle East April 23-29, 2026

Middle East Tanker Traffic April 23-29, 2026

Strait of Hormuz E: 2.14/day

Strait of Hormuz W: 0.28/day

Total: 2.42/day

Normal (2022): 70/day

Down 96.5%

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait SE: 6.57/day

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait NW: 7.71/day

Total: 14.28/day

Normal (2022): 30/day

Down 52.4%

 

 

JMIC Update 38 for tanker traffic in the Middle East April 21-27, 2026

Middle East Tanker Traffic April 21-27, 2026

Strait of Hormuz E: 1.71/day

Strait of Hormuz W: 0.57/day

Total: 2.28/day

Normal (2022): 70/day

Down 96.7%

 

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait SE: 6.42/day

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait NW: 6.85/day

Total: 13.27/day

Normal (2022): 30/day

Down 55.8% 

 

JMIC Update 37 for tanker traffic in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb 19-25 April 2026

 SoH E: 2.4/day

SoH W: 1.0/day (ZERO 23-25 Apr)

Normal 2022: 70

Down 95% 

 

BAM SE: 7.1/day

BAM NW: 8.4/day

Normal 2022: 30 

Down 48% 

Strait of Hormuz/Bab-el-Mandeb Strait JMIC Update 036 for 16-22 April 2026 tanker traffic

SoH E tankers: 2.57 per day April 16-22

SoH W tankers: 2.00 per day

Normal (2022): ~70.00 total per day

Down 93% 

BAM tankers SE: 6.57 per day April 16-22

BAM tankers NW: 6.28 per day 

Normal (2022): ~30.00 total per day

Down 57% 

 

JMIC Update 035 for the Middle East maritime region is confusing

 The data boxes cover April 14-20 but are entitled April 12-18.

And what is "2BAM Total" lol? Only The Sweet know for sure.

Anyway tankers exiting the Strait of Hormuz E now average 3/day April 19-20 vs. 2/day in the previous five day period. Big whoop.

Tanker traffic in and out of the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb averages 20/day April 19-20 vs. 8.2/day in the previous five day period.

Is that reflecting a mad dash before the ceasefire ends tomorrow? 

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. 

 

Tanker transits in both the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea crawled to a virtual halt on April 10-11

Just two out of the Strait of Hormuz April 10-11, just nine through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in either direction after Iran attacked the Saudi pipeline to Yanbu on April 8-9.

 

In other words, this would mean Trump is going to cut and run from the Persian Gulf just like he cut and ran from the Red Sea on May 6, 2025

 Trump Tells Aides He’s Willing to End War Without Reopening Hormuz: Administration officials assess that forcing the waterway back open would mean extending the military mission

WASHINGTON—President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.

In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade. If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said. ...

 

The latest UKMTO JMIC Advisory on 3/29 indicates 12 tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz in the last 7 days vs. 2 previously, 78 through the Bab al-Mandab Strait vs. 130 previously

 Persian Gulf Activity: 1.7/day last week vs. 0.3/day prior week

Red Sea Activity: 11.1/day last week vs. 18.6/day prior week 

JMIC Advisory Mar 29

JMIC Advisory Mar 22