At least 35 commodity carriers transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, a record level since the start of the Middle East war in late February, according to data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler.

The 35 passages represent nearly a third of normal peacetime traffic (around 120 per day) through the strait, which normally sees around a fifth of the world's oil and gas exports.

The total count for Monday crossings is expected to rise further as ships are detected later by maritime trackers.