Tankers cross the Strait of Hormuz in secret; only 6 ships passed on Sunday with transponders off

According to preliminary data from ship-tracking firm Kpler, published by Bloomberg, only 6 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, July 12, 2026, the lowest number in five weeks and far below the normal daily average of 18 to 22 ships. All six crossed with their position transponders switched off, in so-called dark crossings, and over the past three days hidden passages have outnumbered observable ones.

Among the ships that exited the strait were a very large crude carrier named Humanity, reported to be carrying about 2 million barrels of Iranian oil, and another tanker, Capetan Andreas, with about 500,000 barrels of Kuwaiti oil products. The figures come as Washington and Tehran dispute whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or closed; the sharp drop in observable traffic shows commercial shipping is moving cautiously and covertly through this vital waterway.