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Hormuz Traffic Remains Near Zero as Peace Talks Stall
U.S., Iran Are Far Apart in Talks to Extend Ceasefire
Key Takeaways:
- Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dwindled to just a few vessels as U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled.
- Shipping flows are constrained by a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, alleged GPS disruptions and vessels going dark, according to Bloomberg and U.S. Central Command.
- Movements remain uncertain as talks show little progress and tracking gaps persist, with officials monitoring compliance and potential revisions to vessel counts.
Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was limited to just a few ships over the past 24 hours as peace talks between the U.S. and Iran show little sign of advancing.
No commercial transits were observed on in the morning on June 5, with three passages in each direction seen on June 4, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The U.S. and Iran have made little progress in talks over an interim peace accord this week. Iran is insisting on a ceasefire in Lebanon before it will accept a deal with the U.S. that’s meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend their truce by two months. The two sides still have significant gaps between their demands.
The U.S. Central Command denied Tehran’s claims that Iranian forces had fired on its warships in the Gulf of Oman. Centcom said in a separate post that the U.S. Navy had now redirected 129 commercial vessels and disabled 6 others to ensure compliance with its blockade of Iranian ports.
Four Iranian crude tankers that were reported to have exited the Persian Gulf on June 1 are anchored off Bandar-e-Jask, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to Tankertrackers.com, which specializes in monitoring the clandestine movements of dark-fleet ships. The arrival of four oil tankers of the same sizes as those reported to have left the Persian Gulf was confirmed in satellite images examined by Bloomberg. These ships have not been included in the outbound count.
🚫 CLAIM: Iran claims it fired warning shots at U.S. warships in the Gulf of Oman, forcing American vessels to “retreat” toward the Indian Ocean. FALSE.
✅TRUTH: Iranian forces did NOT attack or fire at U.S. Navy warships. Doing so would be a gross violation of the ceasefire.… pic.twitter.com/PdfC1EMZTP — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 5, 2026
Outbound traffic on June 4 was restricted to three vessels, led by an Iran-linked fuel tanker and followed by two small general cargo carriers. Inbound ship movements were limited to an Iran-linked bulk carrier, an asphalt carrier and a general cargo ship.
Visibility on commercial shipping remains limited by ongoing GPS jamming and tracking disruptions across the strait, with vessel movements likely to be revised as ships re-emerge beyond high-risk waters.
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The U.S. naval presence may also be distorting the observations. Iran-linked vessels entering or leaving the Gulf could be switching off transponders to avoid detection, making it harder to track flows in real time.
Even before the U.S. barred movement to and from Iranian ports, it was common for Iran-linked vessels to “go dark” when approaching Hormuz. Signals were often not restored until well into the Strait of Malacca — around 13 days’ sailing from Iran’s Kharg Island.
