Despite continued disruption at the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint, maritime traffic has not fully collapsed.
More ships transiting the Strait with transponders turned off https://t.co/PpEsenCVCE
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 10, 2026
On Tuesday afternoon, reports that a U.S. warship had escorted an oil tanker through the critical chokepoint helped push Brent crude futures down toward $81/bbl, reinforcing the view that paralysis on the waterway has, for now, begun to ease.
But even with signs that the critical maritime chokepoint is seeing a modest pickup in activity, this does not imply that normalcy will return this week. In fact, Bloomberg cites ship-tracking data showing uncertainty remains high, with at least 25 tankers diverted toward Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea export hub at Yanbu.
Saudi Aramco is maxing out its east-west pipeline to Yanbu, which can carry 7 million barrels per day. CEO Amin Nasser said flows should reach capacity within days as tankers divert to the energy export hub in the Red Sea. The UAE is implementing a similar workaround in Fujairah, where exports have jumped to about 1.6 million bpd this month from a recent average of about 1.1 million bpd.
“We should reach capacity in a couple of days,” Nasser said. “It’s all building on the repositioning of tankers from the east to the west.”
Bloomberg notes the conflict has already knocked about 6% off global oil output as traditional Hormuz transits remain disrupted.
Earlier, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned that the Hormuz chokepoint will “either be a strait of peace and prosperity for all” or a “strait of defeat and suffering for warmongers” as President Trump threatens retaliation against Tehran for disrupting the flow of oil.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/11/2026 – 02:45
