A convoy of eight tankers was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, reported Reuters citing vessel tracking data, ​as some ship owners said they hoped Tehran would allow them to ‌leave the Gulf during a short ceasefire window in the Iran war.

The group - comprising one very large crude oil carrier (VLCC), several oil product and chemical tankers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers - was passing through ​Iranian waters south of Larak island, according to MarineTraffic data. More tankers were ​seen following from the Gulf.

Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the ⁠Gulf since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran at the ​end of February and Tehran retaliated by closing the strait, forcing large oil and gas ​production cuts across all Gulf oil producers.

Iran reopened the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world's oil trade, following a separate US-brokered ceasefire on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon.

Some ship ​owners said they might try to use the window of opportunity to leave the ​Gulf while the ceasefire lasts. They all asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of ‌the ⁠issue.

A number of ships have also been observed approaching the strait and turning back since yesterday afternoon, indicating that the passage was still restricted, reported Reuters.

In a statement on Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the Iran's Revolutionary Guards said: "Following prior agreements reached in negotiations, the ​Islamic Republic of Iran, ​acting in good faith, ⁠agreed to the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz."

The closure ​of the Strait has resulted in the largest supply loss in ​history - more ⁠than 10 million barrels of oil per day and a 20% cut in global liquefied natural gas supply, the International Energy Agency has said.