The Critically Important Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz, bounded by Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The strait is about 167 kilometers long and 55 to 95 kilometers wide and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula. The narrow waterway is of great strategic and economic importance, especially as a third of the world's liquefied natural gas and a fifth of total global oil consumption passes through it. 

The Strait of Hormuz is used for international navigation as defined in Article 37 of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), meaning that vessels passing through it benefit from the right of transit passage, which provides for unimpeded access through the entire strait. As a result, transit passage cannot be suspended and vessels in transit must be permitted to pass through the territorial waters of the coastal state.

This is a selection of pictures of commercial vessels passing through this strategically important waterway.