Sawt Falasteen - Strait of Hormuz shipping blockade update

Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the waterway in peacetime.

The war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region and restrict access to the strait.

- Kuwaiti tanker hit -

An Iranian attack sparked a fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker at Dubai Port, Kuwaiti official news agency KUNA reported, citing the state-owned oil company.

KUNA said the tanker was fully laden at the time of the attack but no injuries or oil spill were reported. Dubai authorities said firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Security intelligence firm Vanguard identified the vessel as the Al Salmi and said authorities were investigating.

Iranian media meanwhile reported that strikes hit a desalination plant on Iran's Qeshm island in the strait, putting it out of service.

- Chinese container ships pass -

China's foreign ministry said three Chinese ships had transited the strait.

On Monday, maritime tracker MarineTraffic identified two ultra-large container vessels owned by Chinese shipping giant Cosco that crossed after an aborted attempt last week.

It interpreted their passage as "signalling a potential shift in conditions for commercial shipping". The ministry did not provide details about the third ship.

- Handful of crossings -

Just four vessels crossed the strait on Monday, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

From March 1 to 31 as of 0700 GMT, commodities carriers made 201 crossings, according to Kpler data -- a decrease of 95 percent from peacetime.

Of these, 121 were by oil tankers and gas carriers and most were travelling east out of the strait.

The channel in peacetime sees around 120 daily transits, according to shipping industry intelligence site Lloyd's List.

- 2,000 ships in Gulf -

Bloomberg data showed on Tuesday that 2,459 vessels sent transponder signals in the Gulf west of the Strait of Hormuz over the past day.

Of those, 362 were oil and gas vessels, including 11 very large gas carriers and 60 very large crude carriers.

- Eight sea workers killed -

Since the conflict began, at least eight seafarers or dock workers have died in incidents in the region, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The last fatality reported by the IMO was on March 11. A further 10 seafarers were injured. Around 20,000 seafarers are affected in the region, according to the IMO.

- Iran-approved route -

Recent crossings appeared to have mainly used a route apparently approved by Iran around Larak Island just off the country's coast.

Leading shipping journal Lloyd's List last week said at least 34 ships had been tracked using it.

The Revolutionary Guards said the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to Iran's "enemies".

- 44% sanctioned ships -

Since the war started, 44 percent of the crossings have been by ships under US, EU or UK sanctions, according to an AFP analysis of passage data.

Of the crossings by oil and gas tankers, 61 percent were by vessels under sanctions.

K.Hassan--SF-PST