Strait of Hormuz Ship Traffic — March 2026
In March 2026, the monitor detected 140 vessel crossings of the Strait of Hormuz — 85 outbound toward the Gulf of Oman and 55 inbound toward the Persian Gulf. 17 of the outbound transits were crude, product or chemical tankers, together carrying an estimated 15.7 million barrels (deadweight × 95% load × 7.33 bbl/t — an AIS-derived lower bound; see methodology). The busiest day was 2026-03-15 with 12 crossings.
March 2026 in review
Averaged over the 31 days, that is 4.5 detected crossings and 0.51 million barrels of oil a day — about 3% of the roughly 20 million barrels a day that moved through the strait before the 2026 war. Bulk Carrier vessels made up the largest share of crossings (29%), followed by Cargo at 14%. The largest tanker to leave the Gulf was SANMAR HERALD (309,000 DWT) on 2026-03-11. For the wider arc, read the six-month shipping timeline; for what replaced the missing barrels, see Supply & Demand and Oil Storage.
Crossings by vessel type
| Vessel type | Crossings |
|---|---|
| Bulk Carrier | 40 |
| Cargo | 20 |
| Crude Oil Tanker | 18 |
| LPG Tanker | 12 |
| Container Ship | 12 |
| Yacht | 10 |
| Oil/Chemical Tanker | 10 |
| LPG/Chemical Tanker | 4 |
| Tug | 3 |
| Service Vessel | 3 |
Largest tankers to exit the Gulf in March 2026
| Vessel | Class | DWT | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SANMAR HERALD | Crude Oil Tanker | 309,000 | 2026-03-11 |
| SANMAR HERALD | Crude Oil Tanker | 309,000 | 2026-03-24 |
| OMEGA TRADER | Crude Oil Tanker | 305,206 | 2026-03-18 |
| LAN JING | Crude Oil Tanker | 298,972 | 2026-03-11 |
| SMYRNI | Crude Oil Tanker | 156,413 | 2026-03-14 |