LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains low and tightly controlled following the announcement of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, with no meaningful increase in activity observed, a London-headquartered maritime analytics firm said on Thursday.
According to a report released by Windward, the ceasefire has not led to a resumption of normal commercial shipping. Standard shipping lanes remain largely unused, and the current situation reflects not a recovery phase but a supervised pause, with operational control still firmly in place.
On April 8, only five bulk carriers were tracked outbound through the strait, all transiting via a corridor controlled by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) rather than standard commercial routes.
Limited additional vessel movements were observed on April 9, mainly involving smaller vessels or Iran-linked operations.
Elevated war-risk insurance premiums continue to be a key constraint preventing a broader return of mainstream commercial shipping, said the report.
Data shows that around 3,200 vessels remain stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, including nearly 800 tankers and cargo ships.
The report identifies April 8 to 10 as a critical testing window. If transit volumes increase without incident, market participants may begin reassessing risk. A subsequent decision window between April 11 and 14 will depend on the stability of the ceasefire and enforcement conditions.
Even under a best-case scenario, clearing the backlog of stranded energy cargoes is expected to take weeks, while global trade flows may take months to return to pre-crisis levels, the report added.
