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Central Command said it has assisted about 1,300 commercial vessels through the contested waterway, where flow remains well below prewar levels
Vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire deal reached between the U.S. and Iran. (Shady Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Since early May, U.S. military escorts have enabled tankers to move more than 660 million barrels of crude through the Strait of Hormuz, Central Command told CNBC this week, with around 1,300 commercial vessels receiving assistance over that span.
U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement Thursday that "multiple routes remain free and open for commercial transit." Taken together with the July 29 figure, the updated total implies that over 160 million barrels — a rate exceeding 7 million barrels per day — cleared the strait in the most recent three-week stretch. A July 29 statement from the military put the cumulative total at 500 million barrels assisted through Hormuz since May.
