UK maritime center: Strait of Hormuz shipping rises to 29 vessels daily

Shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz increased over the past seven days, with an average of around 29 cargo vessels passing daily, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). This comes as US President Donald Trump affirmed that the waterway remains "open."

A report issued by the UKMTO on Friday stated that 103 ships entered the Gulf last week, while 101 departed. The center noted a slight uptick in maritime traffic since the end of active hostilities between Iran and the United States in the region at the end of July.

UKMTO figures differ from those of specialized shipping tracking platforms. The analytics platform Kpler recently reported that no more than 10 ships cross the Strait of Hormuz daily.

Part of the discrepancy between the estimates is due to different monitoring methods. Ship tracking platforms rely on data from Automatic Identification System (AIS) devices installed on vessels, but some ships disable these devices while in the area, making some movements invisible to conventional tracking data.

In contrast, the UKMTO combines AIS data with information on untracked movements from additional intelligence sources, though it does not disclose details of these sources. The center also maintains ongoing communication with shipping companies operating in the region.

The rise in observed vessel traffic through the strait coincided with statements from Trump regarding the status of the vital shipping lane. He asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is "open" and said Iran's ability to threaten ships is now "very minimal."

In a phone interview with Axios published Friday, Trump said Iran does not want to face further US strikes, adding: "They don't want us to come back and hit them again."