{"id":519794,"date":"2026-04-08T15:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519794\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:53:07","slug":"ceasefire-changes-little-for-shipping-in-strait-of-hormuz-experts-say-strait-of-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519794\/","title":{"rendered":"Ceasefire changes little for shipping in strait of Hormuz, experts say | Strait of Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"

There will be no \u201cmass exodus\u201d of ships through the strait of Hormuz, shipping analysts say, despite a two-week conditional ceasefire<\/a> being agreed between the US and Iran with provision for the temporary reopening of the crucial maritime channel.<\/p>\n

Tehran said on Wednesday that it would offer safe passage in coordination with its armed forces, though its coastguards warned any ship trying to transit without permissions would be \u201ctargeted and destroyed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Iranian news agency Fars later reported that tankers passing through had been stopped because Israel\u2019s fresh wave of attacks on Lebanon<\/a> constituted a \u201cceasefire breach\u201d.<\/p>\n

Richard Meade, the editor-in-chief at the maritime data provider Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence, said any ceasefire agreement \u201cdoesn\u2019t change the situation in the sense that Iran<\/a> is still in control\u201d. He added: \u201cIt still requires ships to essentially seek permission, and that\u2019s the key. That means that nothing has changed \u2013 no permission, no transit.\u201d<\/p>\n

An estimated 2,000 ships and 20,000 seafarers have been trapped in the Gulf since the outbreak of war at the end of February, according to the UN, unable to pass through the strait to continue their journeys.<\/p>\n

Ships through Hormuz <\/a><\/p>\n

The trapped vessels include oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers and cargo ships as well as six tourist cruise liners.<\/p>\n

Meade added that some captains have been instructed by shipowners to carry out safety checks in readiness for a possible departure.<\/p>\n

However, he said large numbers of vessels were unlikely to start moving out of the Gulf until they were certain that they could do so safely: \u201cWe probably need to temper expectations of there being a mass exodus immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil shipowners have got some sort of detail in terms of what\u2019s required of them [to exit the strait] they are basically going to be waiting to see what happens,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the moment, we\u2019re seeing nothing to indicate that what was in place yesterday has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Iran\u2019s 10-point ceasefire plan<\/a>, the country\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said safe passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management.<\/p>\n

This would mark a continuation of Tehran\u2019s previous traffic control system<\/a>, where it granted passage to \u201cnon-hostile vessels\u201d \u2013 which it determined to be those not belonging to or having links to the US or Israel.<\/p>\n

A small number of ships<\/a> have passed each day through the choke-point \u2013 just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point \u2013 in recent weeks, a tiny proportion of the prewar daily average of about 140 crossings.<\/p>\n

The plan also permits Iran and Oman<\/a> to charge a fee of up to $2m (\u00a31.5m) a ship on vessels transiting through the strait, according to reports.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the war, the vast majority of vessels have remained anchored in the Gulf to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew, after attacks on more than 20 ships<\/a> across the region and the deaths of several crew members.<\/p>\n

Map showing movements of ships<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephen Cotton, the general secretary of the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation (ITF), a trade union representing 1.2 million seafarers, said questions remain over the validity of the ceasefire and whether vessels have the confidence to pass through safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really good news, but we still want some forms of guarantee [of safety], Cotton said. \u201cWe will want to see the details of the exit, who is going first, what types of vessels, you need to test the confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The head of the UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) welcomed the ceasefire and called for a safe evacuation of seafarers from the Gulf.<\/p>\n

Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary general of the IMO, said: \u201cI am already working with the relevant parties to implement an appropriate mechanism to ensure the safe transit of ships through the strait of Hormuz. The priority now is to ensure an evacuation that guarantees the safety of navigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number of vessels transiting the strait had increased slightly in the days before the ceasefire, although this was partly a result of more ships with cargoes linked to Iran moving through.<\/p>\n

The ships that have been moving have followed the new maritime route that has emerged during the conflict, which differs from the standard commercial lanes used before the war.<\/p>\n

Larak map<\/a><\/p>\n

Iran has diverted ships to a northerly corridor in its territorial waters, which takes them between Larak island and its mainland, allowing Iranian authorities to monitor ships and approve their passage.<\/p>\n

Analysts have said if ships continue to follow this route, it will add further constraints to the number of vessels able to pass through the narrow and congested waterway. Few believe traffic will return to normal daily averages during the two-week ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Tufton Investment Management said none of its 35 ships \u2013 including product tankers that carry petrol and diesel, as well as chemical carriers and dry bulk carriers \u2013 were in the Gulf when the conflict began. It can take a considerable period of time for shipowners to return to dangerous areas, said Nicolas Tirogalas, Tufton\u2019s president and chief investment officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, we instructed all of our crews to divert from the area and not to approach the area until further notice. That stands now and won\u2019t change because of this two week ceasefire,\u201d Tirogalas said.<\/p>\n

He added that most container shipping companies had not returned to the Red Sea by the start of 2026, about a year after Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels<\/a> said they would not longer launch attacks on ships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There will be no \u201cmass exodus\u201d of ships through the strait of Hormuz, shipping analysts say, despite a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-519794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}