US President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to end in an agreement. As the American Command of the Armed Forces reported on Tuesday, no ship managed to get through during the first 24 hours of the blockade. It also said that the blockade mission was carried out by “10,000 American sailors, marines and airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of planes.”
On Wednesday, another message appeared, in which the central command said that nine units “complied with the order of American forces to turn around and return towards an Iranian port or coastal area.”
See also: US blockade ineffective? There are new reports regarding the Strait of Hormuz
Sanctioned tankers diverted in Strait of Hormuz
The Chinese tanker Rich Starry was one of nine ships named by the US that passed through the US-blocked route in the first days after the announcement of the action.
The Rich Starry ship and its owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co, are under US sanctions for cooperating with Iran in the transportation of oil. The company did not comment to Reuters. This time, instead of oil, the tanker carried 250,000. barrels of methanol that were loaded in the port of Hamriyah in the United Arab Emirates – according to data from Kpler. It is currently anchored off the coast of Iran.
See also: The US blocks the Strait of Hormuz. This map shows it all
According to Reuters, on Wednesday another attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz was made by VLCC Agios Fanourios I under the Maltese flag. He previously tried this on Sunday. According to sources, it is heading to Iraq to load crude from Basra for the Nghi Son refinery in Vietnam. Also on Wednesday, the U.S.-sanctioned VLCC Alicia ship, which has been transporting Iranian oil since 2023, entered the Gulf. An empty tanker, capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, is heading to Iraq to load cargo on Thursday, Kpler data shows.
