Strait of Hormuz reopens: But can ships’ safety be assured?

US President Donald Trump was jubilant when he announced a preliminary deal with Iran to end the war that has brought about the worst energy crisis of modern history – and which has closed the Strait of Hormuz to world shipping.

“Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Sunday.

Oil prices tumbled. But three days after the agreement was announced by both Iran and the US, marine traffic has not picked up in the narrow yet vital waterway, ship tracking data shows.

Shipping companies and insurance underwriters appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach before deeming transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the broader ceasefire, sufficiently stable.

So, what are the major challenges as the Strait of Hormuz reopens?

Before the war began, between 120 and 140 ships travelled through the strait each day, about half of them oil tankers carrying some 20 million barrels of oil between them. Iran quickly closed the strait following the start of US-Israeli bombing at the end of February, and the US began a corresponding naval blockade of Iranian ports a few weeks later.

Since the preliminary deal was announced on Sunday, only seven ships have passed through, according to shipping monitor MarineTraffic. Among these were a few tankers carrying Iranian oil which crossed the US blockade line in the Strait of Hormuz – Iran’s “first crude oil exports in two months”, the marine shipping monitor TankerTrackers reported on Wednesday.

More than 550 ships remain stranded on either side of the strait, waiting to transit the Gulf waters.