The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping as of Sunday, five months into a crisis that has cut off one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints, even as Iran and Oman signal they are nearing an agreement on how to manage traffic through the waterway.

According to tracking data from the monitoring site straits.live, only two ships transited the strait on Aug. 2, compared with a pre-crisis baseline of roughly 73 transits per day — a stark illustration of how thoroughly the waterway has been shut down since the crisis began. The site's independent assessment currently classifies the strait's status as closed to commercial shipping.

A crisis now in its sixth month

The closure traces back to Feb. 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iranian military targets, including the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, according to Wikipedia's documented timeline of the conflict. In response, Iran closed the strait to all foreign shipping, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps transmitting warnings over VHF radio declaring that no ship would be allowed to pass. Britain's Royal Navy said at the time that the closure was not legally binding, though it acknowledged that safety could not be guaranteed for vessels attempting to transit.

By early March 2026, the IRGC confirmed the strait was closed specifically to "unfriendly nations," while continuing to allow Iran-approved vessels — largely petroleum shipments bound for China and India — to pass, sometimes........

© International Business Times