Three reasons ships are not going through the Strait of Hormuz yet

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Three reasons ships are not sailing through the Strait of Hormuz yet26 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleThomas Copeland ,Shruti MenonandBarbara Metzler , VerifyBBCWhen President Donald Trump announced the US deal with Iran on Sunday and declared the "opening" of the Strait of Hormuz, his Truth Social post ended with the words - "Ships of the World, start your engines. Verify analysis of MarineTraffic ship-tracking data, however, shows that just seven vessels appear to have passed through the critical waterway since the deal was announced and as many as 580 ships appear to be waiting in the Gulf. Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies are usually transported, following US and Israeli strikes on 28 February.

Experts say there are significant obstacles preventing traffic from returning to the levels seen before the conflict began – security, mines and tolls. ReutersShip-tracking data from MarineTraffic on Tuesday shows there are more than 250 tankers and more than 330 cargo ships inside the Gulf. About 75% of the tankers are stationary, the data suggests.

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Satellite imagery shows that many are gathered near major oil export terminals in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE. The total number of vessels in the area is likely to be higher as many ships are not broadcasting their location and do not appear in MarineTraffic's data. "The first thing we would probably see when traffic picks up through the strait is an exodus of the vessels that are trapped inside the Gulf," said Naveen Das, senior oil analyst at trade analytics firm Kpler.

But so far, that does not appear to be happening. Security and safety"It would take an extremely brave captain to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, given the current state," Martin Kelly of crisis management firm EOS Risk Group told Verify. Since Iran began effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz in late February, it has fired on ships attempting to make the crossing without its permission.

The US imposed its own naval blockade of Iranian ports on 13 April and has since disabled nine "non-compliant vessels", including launching Hellfire missiles into the engine rooms of some ships, according to US Central Command. Despite Trump announcing on Sunday the "immediate removal" of the US naval blockade, the president later said it would remain in place until the deal with Iran is signed. Satellite images from 15 June show four US warships close to the American blockade line at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman.

After the deal's announcement, experts say ship captains, owners and insurers are preparing and positioning their vessels in the Gulf to make the journey out into the Arabian Sea - but few of them want to make the first move. "What we've been seeing is still very much a wait-and-see mentality. No-one really wants to be the first to take that risk," said Das.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.