Hormuz transits drop to two-month low as tanker attacks hit wartime record and oil surges past $100
From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026 · last updated 8 October 2026.
Joey Amor, whose wife Master Sgt. Nicole M. Amor was killed in the March 1 drone strike on Kuwait, publicly called on Americans to "stand with these six families and demand transparency" the day before the White House…
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest point in more than two months as weekly vessel attacks hit a wartime high. Only seven commodity ships made the transit on Tuesday, a sharp drop from more than 20 on both Sunday and Monday, with crude flows across the strait declining 27% over the week to 10.1 million barrels a day. Iran has declared it will shut a secondary route vessels have been using to avoid its blockade, hitting a tanker off the Qatari coast with multiple projectiles and wounding an unspecified number of crew. Oil prices pushed past $100 a barrel as the situation deteriorated.
In the week to 5 October, tanker attacks in the strait's vicinity reached a wartime record, with oil, LNG and LPG vessels struck on no fewer than 12 occasions — the highest weekly total since the war began.
India's foreign ministry reported that 12 crew members were wounded aboard a Panama-flagged tanker that came under attack while transiting the strait on Tuesday.
Crude exports through Hormuz have dropped to just 74% of pre-war levels, though traffic via the Gulf of Oman and Red Sea has more than doubled, providing partial relief.
