Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026.
stringer | reuters
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained sparse on Wednesday, the first day after President Donald Trump extended the armistice with Iran.
Trump’s decision to unilaterally extend the ceasefire has not opened the strait. Iran is still trying to control ship traffic in the sea route, while the US continues its blockade of Tehran’s ports and ships.
At least six ships, including three oil tankers, transited the strait on Wednesday, according to LSEG tracking data. The Iranian tanker Atlantis II appears to have crossed the strait and entered the Gulf of Oman despite the US blockade.
According to LSEG, there was little change in traffic compared to Tuesday when at least six vessels traveled. The data shows that about a dozen commercial vessels of various types transited on Monday.
Traffic is well below normal levels before the war, when more than 100 ships crossed the strait daily.
ship attack
The security situation in the strait remains dangerous. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday it seized two container ships as they tried to transit the strait “without permission”, according to state news agency Tasnim.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, or UKMTO, has warned ships that there is a “high level of activity” in the strait and that they should report suspicious activity.
A cargo ship was fired upon on Wednesday and has now been stopped in the water, according to a UKMTO incident report. UKMTO said a gunboat with guards fired on a container ship on Tuesday, causing heavy damage to the bridge.
The attacks on ships this week follow a weekend of confusion and confrontations in and around the strait. Iranian forces fired on a tanker and a cargo ship in the sea lane on Saturday, a day after declaring the sea lane open to commercial traffic. Those ships were clearly Indian, prompting New Delhi to lodge a complaint with Tehran.
The US Navy fired on an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday. The marines boarded the ship and took it under control. Trump said the ship was trying to evade the US blockade of Iran.
Iran’s attacks on oil tankers before the ceasefire led to a decline in traffic through the strait, which has been described as the largest oil supply disruption in history.
Before the war about 20% of the world’s crude oil supply passed through the strait. According to Rystad Energy, it will take until July for oil flows to reach 90% of pre-war levels and up to two months for barrels to reach refineries around the world for processing into products.
