U.S. Forces Strike Iranian Launchers as Hormuz Shipping Plummets

Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz dropped to five vessels per day over the weekend as companies avoid the region due to persistent attacks. Data from Kpler shows that remaining traffic consisted mostly of small vessels, including two liquefied petroleum gas carriers. Some ships, including a very large crude carrier transporting 2 million barrels of Qatari oil, disabled their automatic identification systems to evade detection.

United States forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, marking the first known American strikes against Iran since late July. This military action followed a report from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile on Saturday, the third such attack within a single week.