New Delhi, July 10 -- DUBAI - Five ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. That single figure, logged by Lloyd's List Intelligence, stood against 45 transits recorded on Monday and a prewar baseline of roughly 130 daily crossings before the US-Iran conflict began in late February.

The near-standstill in traceable commercial traffic through the world's most consequential maritime chokepoint came as American and Iranian forces resumed strikes. Tehran reported multiple explosions on July 10 and claimed retaliatory attacks against US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Iraq.

Zero large vessels, defined as those above 10,000 deadweight tonnes, used the US-coordinated "Southern Highway" corridor along the Oman...