Despite US claims that US Navy guided-missile destroyers were enforcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data show several vessels managed to bypass the blockade. The US Navy has stated that it was deploying guided-missile destroyers to carry out a blockade mission targeting Iranian ports.
However, ship-tracking data showed that several ships had apparently transited the narrow waterway, including some that had departed from Iran, according to the New York Times. The blockade began on Monday afternoon and applies to all maritime traffic entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas.
Two vessels that managed to run the blockade include Christianna, a Liberia-flagged cargo ship, and Elpis, a methanol carrier. Christianna, which was not carrying any cargo, left the Iranian port city of Bandar Imam Khomeini before exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait on Monday night. As for Elpis, it traversed the strait roughly around the time that the U.S. blockade began. Ship-tracking data shows that the vessel had been at the Iranian port of Bushehr. The United States had placed sanctions on the ship last year under an earlier name, Chamtang, over its connections to the Iranian oil trade, the New York Times quoted global trade intelligence firm Kpler.
However, it is unclear whether these two ships fell within CENTCOM’s “grace period” around the deadline. It is also unclear if they managed to gain permission to pass or had evaded the US eyes.
Not just these two vessels, other vessels have also been seen moving in and around the Strait for the last two days. This includes the oil tanker Murlikishan, which entered the Persian Gulf via the Strait early Tuesday. The tanker, which had been subjected to US sanctions earlier for transporting Russian and Iranian oil, was not carrying any cargo at this point.
Then, another Panama-flagged bulk carrier, Manali, also left the Persian Gulf through the Strait on Tuesday morning. The vessel, however, did not dock at any Iranian port.
However, reports emerged that a US Navy destroyer intercepted two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran on Tuesday and ordered them to turn back. The vessels departed Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and were contacted by the warship via radio communication, Reuters quoted officials.
The officials added that a total of six merchant vessels had been instructed to return toward Iranian ports after entering the Gulf of Oman. One of these includes a bulk carrier linked to China called Guan Yuan Fu Xing, which reportedly made an abrupt U-turn near the Strait on its way from the coast of Oman. The vessel remained in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday.
That said, the overall shipping in the region continues to be at a standstill with very little traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.