Strait of Hormuz tracker: The maps and charts that debunk Trump’s claim the route has reopened

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Butt, M. (2026, August 21). Strait of Hormuz tracker: The maps and charts that debunk Trump’s claim the route has reopened. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/strait-of-hormuz-trump-iran-map-open-tracker-b3036850.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-08-21 · by Maira Butt

Quick Summary

US-Iran peace talks have stalled, leading to a significant decline in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Only seven commodity vessels passed through the waterway on Thursday, down from 14 on Wednesday, with no supertankers or liquefied natural gas carriers recorded. The Strait's average daily oil flow has not reached pre-conflict levels, currently averaging around 2.3 million barrels per day since a memorandum of understanding was signed in June. US President Donald Trump has threatened "tremendous" sanctions against Iran and previously stated that the Strait is now "new US territory".
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Strait of Hormuz Status

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has plunged to single digits due to US-Iran peace talks stalling, with only seven commodity vessels passing through on Thursday.

US-Iran Conflict

The conflict between the US and Iran has been ongoing for six months, with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparking the war.

US Sanctions

The US has grown increasingly frustrated at a lack of progress in peace talks, with President Trump threatening "TREMENDOUS" sanctions on Wednesday and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent vowing to impose the "toughest sanctions in history" against Iran on Thursday.

Oman's Role

Oman has been working on a deal with Tehran to reopen the strait, but said lasting security requires permanent peace in the region and rejected further escalation or conflict.

Written for “Tensions at Strait of Hormuz” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 12 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tensions at Strait of Hormuz
World · 13 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 19% hedged 6 of 31 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on the ongoing situation with the Strait of Hormuz closure, specifically referencing a threat from Trump and its current state”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses a threat by Trump on Aug 20, while Article B reports on shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz two days later”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 12% hedged 16 of 136 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports low vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz due to stalled US-Iran peace talks, while Article B announces new sanctions against Iran and mentions ongoing negotiations between Iran and Oman on managing the Strait's traffic”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 8% hedged 21 of 278 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on low shipping numbers through the Strait of Hormuz, while Article B discusses a proposal to reopen the Strait via a temporary route and demands from Iran that the US lift its naval blockade”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 7 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A reports on a statement from an Iranian negotiator, while Article B reports on shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 18% hedged 4 of 22 📰 publisher trust 70
“Article B describes a general trend of reduced shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz over several days, while Article A specifically reports on attacks on three ships in recent days with casualties”
CBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 7 of 35 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article B reports on the current shipping situation in the Strait of Hormuz and mentions that US-Iran peace talks have 'ground to a complete halt', while Article A reports on Trump's statement about no talks taking place with Iran, but does not mention any specific numbers or details about the shipping situation”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 11% hedged 7 of 65 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses Trump's claims and threats regarding the Strait of Hormuz, while Article B reports on low shipping numbers due to stalled US-Iran peace talks”
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 7 of 35 📰 publisher trust 59
“Article A reports on the casualty numbers in the Iran-US war, while Article B discusses shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of progress in US-Iran peace talks.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 1 of 14 📰 publisher trust 72
“The events described in the two articles occur at different waterways: the Panama Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
13
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 2460 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Maira Butt
55 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Ukrainians fear the growing rift between Washington and Kyiv could have severe consequences on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian military still depends on technology provided by the US.
🔮 Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.”
🔮 Coincidentally, the dispute at the time was around the use of Starlink when Musk bragged that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it (Starlink) off”.
🔮 He said the US would import 300,000 tons of the fuel as energy prices soar.
🔮 “One of her greatest fears was that her condition would continue to worsen because of delays and lack of adequate care, and that she would ultimately lose her life not because the cancer could not be treated, but because she was denied the chance to receive the treatment she needed.”
🔮 When 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal received an eviction notice from the apartment she’d lived in for over 70 years, she could not have imagined that the letter would send thousands onto the streets.
🔮 Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful coexistence.
🔮 He added that he would not “chase after cheap, rotten flesh”.
🔮 He added that the British consul general along with 20 diplomats (including the consul general) are ending their assignments and will leave Israel.
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Also by Maira Butt
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 55 articles by Maira Butt →

Topics

Hormuz Iran Kpler Oman Tehran

Subjects

Oman GPE · 6× Tehran GPE · 4× Trump PERSON · 4× Iran GPE · 3× Hormuz GPE · 2× Kpler ORG · 2× Al Jazeera ORG · 1× America GPE · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Scott Bessent PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The US has grown increasingly frustrated at a lack of progress with President Donald Trump threatening “TREMENDOUS” sanctions on Wednesday while US treasury secretary Scott Bessent vowed to impose the “toughest sanctions in history” against Iran on Thursday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-21
🔮 He added: “If Trump repeats these types of remarks, then it will be more difficult for Oman to act as a trusted diplomatic bridge between Washington and Tehran.”

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has plunged to single digits as US-Iran peace talks have ground to a complete halt. asserted
talks → plunge → halt
Only seven commodity vessels passed through the waterway on Thursday, some of the lowest numbers seen in weeks, according to Kpler data. uncertain
vessels → pass → data
Four ships entered the Gulf while only three exited. asserted
three → enter → Gulf
No supertankers or liquefied natural gas carriers were recorded passing through the vital chokepoint through which one fifth of the world’s energy passes. asserted
fifth → liquefy → energy
Between 130 to 140 vessels transited the passage every day, before US-Israeli strikes sparked the war with Iran on 28 February. asserted
strikes → transit → February
Oman, which has been working on a deal with Tehran to reopen the strait, said on Thursday that lasting security required permanent peace in the region and rejected further escalation or conflict. asserted
security → work → escalation
Before a 60-day ceasefire deal expired on Monday, oil flows through Hormuz had nearly tripled with 6.1 million barrels per day transiting on average, according to Al Jazeera, citing a Kpler briefing published on Wednesday. uncertain
barrels → expire → Wednesday
When the memorandum of understanding was signed in June this figure had dropped to around 2.3 million barrels per day. asserted
figure → sign → day
But despite the halting progress throughout the agreement period, numbers have not reached the heights of 15 million barrels a day that were seen before the conflict broke out. asserted
conflict → halt → barrels
The US has grown increasingly frustrated at a lack of progress with President Donald Trump threatening “TREMENDOUS” sanctions on Wednesday while US treasury secretary Scott Bessent vowed to impose the “toughest sanctions in history” against Iran on Thursday. asserted
Bessent → grow → Thursday
Tehran has hit back at the threats as “economic terrorism” and has previously warned it is preparing to switch to a “fully offensive” strategy in the event that America escalates its campaign. asserted
America → hit → campaign
Trump declared the vital waterway “new US territory” in a bizarre post on Truth Social on Tuesday accompanied by a map. asserted
waterway → declare → map
“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect,” he continued on the platform. asserted
he → remain → platform
“The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. asserted
Strait → operate → ?
All water mines have been removed or detonated.” asserted
mines → remove → ?
Oil prices have hit a three-week high amid the uncertainty. asserted
prices → hit → uncertainty
Earlier this week, Tehran said that it was close to finalising a deal with Oman over Hormuz acknowledging that there had been delays in the agreement. asserted
it → say → agreement
Parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said that the shipping route is to remain closed until the US meets the conditions agreed in an interim deal. asserted
US → say → deal
This includes lifting a marine blockade and sanctions as well as releasing Iran’s frozen assets. asserted
This → include → assets
Trump threatened to launch an attack on Oman on Monday, writing: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s**t out of them.” asserted
we → threaten → them
He was later asked if he was out of patience with Oman and told reporters: "No, I don't think they behaved very well, but we'd handle them very easily, just like we do other things." asserted
we → ask → things
“Trump's remarks are unlikely to fundamentally alter US-Oman ties, which are deep, multidimensional and institutionalised,” Neil Quilliam an analyst at Chatham House told The Independent. asserted
Quilliam → alter → Independent
He added: “If Trump repeats these types of remarks, then it will be more difficult for Oman to act as a trusted diplomatic bridge between Washington and Tehran.” asserted
Oman → add → Washington
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