Strait of Hormuz Ship Traffic — May 2026
In May 2026, the monitor detected 409 vessel crossings of the Strait of Hormuz — 224 outbound toward the Gulf of Oman and 185 inbound toward the Persian Gulf. 50 of the outbound transits were crude, product or chemical tankers, together carrying an estimated 41.6 million barrels (deadweight × 95% load × 7.33 bbl/t — an AIS-derived lower bound; see methodology). The busiest day was 2026-05-24 with 24 crossings.
May 2026 in review
Averaged over the 31 days, that is 13.2 detected crossings and 1.34 million barrels of oil a day — about 7% of the roughly 20 million barrels a day that moved through the strait before the 2026 war. Compared with April 2026, detected crossings were up 1% and estimated oil outflow was up 10%. Cargo vessels made up the largest share of crossings (20%), 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 | 81 |
| Bulk Carrier | 52 |
| General Cargo | 47 |
| Crude Oil Tanker | 36 |
| Oil/Chemical Tanker | 28 |
| Oil Products Tanker | 25 |
| Container Ship | 24 |
| Landing Craft | 20 |
| Tug | 15 |
| LPG Tanker | 13 |
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 |