In the past three days, only 70 ships have been escorted by the US through the Strait of Hormuz.

Jinse Finance reported that data released on the 5th by the U.S.-led Combined Maritime Information Center shows that during the 72 hours from July 2 to 4, a total of 70 merchant vessels escorted by the U.S. transited through the Strait of Hormuz, with the level of navigation far below the pre-conflict average of 138 vessels per day. The data was released to the public that same day by the UK Maritime Trade Operations. The announcement indicates that the daily volume of transits by the U.S.-coordinated escort vessels has continued to decline: 33 vessels on July 2, 29 on July 3, and only 18 on July 4.

The Strait of Hormuz currently has two transit routes: the southern route near the Oman side and the northern route controlled by Iran. The volume of transits via the southern route escorted by the U.S. has not shown sustained growth, while the actual total number of transits through the northern route is difficult to precisely track. The announcement rated the threat level for the entire Strait of Hormuz as “relatively high.” The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to conduct VHF radio hailing, close-in reconnaissance by drones, and tracking and surveillance of passing merchant vessels, implementing normalized control over the strait’s shipping lanes; vessels that keep transmitting signals from their Automatic Identification System may receive warning hails requesting them to reroute to the Iranian-controlled route. The announcement also said that there is still a risk of naval mines in the waters of the strait, and related mine-clearing and surveying operations are being carried out across the entire area; interference with the Global Navigation Satellite System is ongoing on a routine basis throughout the region, which will continue to pose a hazard to vessel navigation safety. (Xinhua)