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Shipping traffic remains at virtual standstill through Hormuz, data shows

AL-MONITOR
Apr 20, 2026
FILE PHOTO: Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo — Stringer

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a virtual standstill on Monday with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.

The oil products tanker Nero, which is under British sanctions for Russian oil activities, left the Gulf and was sailing through the Strait, according to satellite analysis from data analytics specialists SynMax and tracking data from the Kpler platform.

Two other ships - a chemical tanker and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker - sailed into the Gulf through the critical waterway separately on Monday, the data showed.

The LPG tanker, Axon I, was under separate U.S. sanctions for Iran trading activities.

A ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Monday after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.

"Recent weeks have brought several false starts, and although some form of resolution is likely at some point, the timing of any durable breakthrough remains highly uncertain," ship broker Clarksons said in a note on Monday.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)