The count of vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz rose on Tuesday, with most tied to Iranian trade, just before a US blockade began on Wednesday, according to shipping records.

US President Donald Trump reinstated a naval blockade covering all Iranian ports on Tuesday and warned of strikes on power plants and bridges the following week if Tehran does not restart talks, marking another step in the escalating US-Iran conflict.

Nine of the eleven vessels that crossed the strait on Tuesday followed the Iranian route, based on Kpler ship-tracking information.

Among them were three empty oil tankers, one Aframax vessel, and two Very Large Crude Carriers entering the strait.

Ships leaving the strait with Iranian exports included one VLCC loaded with two million barrels of crude, a medium-range tanker carrying refined products, and two tankers transporting liquefied petroleum gas.

US-Iran strikes intensify, crude oil prices rise

A methanol tanker carrying cargo and a dry bulk carrier loaded with iron ore also departed the Gulf on Tuesday.

No tankers were observed entering or leaving to load oil and gas from other Gulf producers on Tuesday.

Clashes between the US and Iran across the Middle East increased this week, causing a sharp drop in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that once handled about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments daily before fighting started in February.

The United States reported late Tuesday that Iran had struck seven commercial ships in the past week, resulting in nearly a dozen crew members killed, missing, or injured.

Attacks on Emirati supertankers have pushed Middle East spot crude prices higher this week, with prompt-month values exceeding future-month prices and signaling limited supplies.

"The next phase of Gulf flow recovery could be slower than the initial phase even after geopolitical de-escalation," Goldman Sachs noted on Wednesday.

The analysts highlighted a steep decline in flows via Omani and international routes after the recent tanker attacks, noting that "shippers using the non-Iranian Hormuz lane remain risk-averse."