Strait of Hormuz Ship Traffic — May 2026
In May 2026, the monitor detected 343 vessel crossings of the Strait of Hormuz — 196 outbound toward the Gulf of Oman and 147 inbound toward the Persian Gulf. 43 of the outbound transits were crude, product or chemical tankers, together carrying an estimated 34.5 million barrels (deadweight × 95% load × 7.33 bbl/t — an AIS-derived lower bound; see methodology). The busiest day was 2026-05-20 with 20 crossings.
May 2026 in review
Averaged over the 31 days, that is 11.1 detected crossings and 1.11 million barrels of oil a day — about 6% of the roughly 20 million barrels a day that moved through the strait before the 2026 war. Compared with April 2026, detected crossings were down 14% and estimated oil outflow was up 5%. Cargo vessels made up the largest share of crossings (19%), followed by Bulk Carrier at 13%. The largest tanker to leave the Gulf was YUAN GUI YANG (319,702 DWT) on 2026-05-19. 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 |
|---|---|
| Cargo | 65 |
| Bulk Carrier | 46 |
| General Cargo | 39 |
| Oil/Chemical Tanker | 23 |
| Crude Oil Tanker | 23 |
| Container Ship | 22 |
| Oil Products Tanker | 21 |
| Landing Craft | 20 |
| LPG Tanker | 13 |
| Tug | 10 |
Largest tankers to exit the Gulf in May 2026
| Vessel | Class | DWT | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| YUAN GUI YANG | Crude Oil Tanker | 319,702 | 2026-05-19 |
| ENEOS ENDEAVOR | Crude Oil Tanker | 312,137 | 2026-05-13 |
| SANMAR HERALD | Crude Oil Tanker | 309,000 | 2026-05-28 |
| YUAN HUA HU CHINA | Crude Oil Tanker | 308,663 | 2026-05-13 |
| AGIOS FANOURIOS I | Crude Oil Tanker | 303,123 | 2026-05-10 |