Ships Trickle Through Strait of Hormuz

Seven commodity ships sailed along the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, just half the previous day's tally, showed data from shiptracker Kpler, amid concern over risk to Middle East shipping as U.S.-Iran peace talks remain in limbo.

Of the total, four ships entered and three exited the waterway, which was used by nearly a fifth of global shipments of crude oil and liquefied natural gas before war began in February.

The seven did not include any very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers.

However, one very large gas carrier - carrying propane and butane - did transit out of Hormuz via the Iranian route, the data showed.

Separately, at the Bab el-Mandeb strait, traffic slowed slightly on Thursday compared with the previous two days.

Commodity ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb totalled 23, compared with 34 on each of the previous two days, Kpler data showed, of which 16 ships entered and seven exited.

Out of the seven exits, two were Suezmax tankers - the Stoic Warrior and the Dokos - carrying crude oil bound for Vietnam and India respectively, the data showed.

No very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday.

Vessels that sail through the waterways with transponders turned off do not feature in the data.

(Reuters - Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Christopher Cushing)