16 September 2026.

Situation

The Strait of Hormuz continues to operate at a fraction of its pre-crisis throughput, with IMF PortWatch recording 8 transits on 2026-09-13 against a pre-crisis baseline of 85 per day. Brent crude stood at $108.04 as of 02:52 UTC, a gain of 1.04% over the prior 24 hours. Hellenic Shipping News reports that crude tanker rates have broken to fresh highs, citing accelerating attack frequency over the past two weeks, including roughly 24 successful strikes; no major wire in this feed carries that specific rate claim. On the El Gaia, which first entered this feed before the current window, gCaptain and MarineLink report Omani authorities have the Panama-flagged tanker under tow to an Omani port after a fire in its engine room was brought under control; 23 crew were rescued and two remain missing. IranWire notes conflicting reports on the circumstances of the attack, and the attacker has not been independently identified. Per Axios, the US military destroyed two Iranian boats following a drone seizure attempt near Hormuz, a development previously covered in this feed; Tehran Times claims Iran has downed a third US MQ-1 drone in 24 hours, a claim no major wire in this feed independently carries. UKMTO reports a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile in the strait, with Anadolu Ajansi citing the watchdog directly; the attacker is unidentified. Seventy-one events have been indexed across the past 24 hours. As of 02:49 UTC, 412 AIS-visible vessels were holding position away from berth in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf watch box, a count that leaves out ships within 25km of a working port. On the Hormuz Index, Crisis Pressure, the state composite, sits in the extreme band, with physical transit deviation as its top contributor; the Escalation Forecast sits in the elevated band, with the Brent-WTI forward spread as its top contributor.