Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is showing the first signs of normalization, analyses showed on Thursday, though uncertainty remains over mines that Iranian forces are reported to have laid in the key waterway.
Kpler, a data provider, counted 70 transits on Wednesday, a spokesman said. Before the outbreak of the Iran war, more than 100 vessels had passed through daily.
In a separate analysis, data provider Windward wrote that commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was "approaching functional commercial normalcy." It reported more vessels leaving than entering the strait, with China as the main destination country for oil-exporting ships.
On Thursday morning, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that transits through the strait were safe only on routes designated as such by Iran.
Kpler has recently outlined three routes, with the company's visualizations showing passages along the Iranian coast to the north, the Omani coast to the south and a central route in between.
After the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February, the Islamic Republic largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic through threats and attacks.
The US responded with its own naval blockade on Iranian ports. Both sides lifted their blockades following a framework agreement signed by Washington and Tehran.
Uncertainty remains, however, over sea mines that Iranian forces are alleged to have laid in the waterway. A US media report in May, citing anonymous intelligence sources, spoke of at least 10 mines having been laid.
