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At least 34 tankers with links to Iran have bypassed the US blockade since it began, according to the cargo tracking group Vortexa, including several carrying Iranian oil — despite US President Donald Trump declaring the barricade a “tremendous success”.
The US imposed its blockade on all ships entering or leaving Iranian coastal waters from 10am ET on April 13, marking a fresh phase in the Middle East conflict as Washington tries to pressure Tehran into a peace deal.
The embargo was expanded to cover all Iranian vessels on the high seas or those carrying goods that could be used by Iran in the conflict on April 16, according to notices from the US Navy.
US forces have so far detained one container ship in the Gulf of Oman and boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indo-Pacific. US Central Command said on Tuesday the US Navy had directed 28 vessels to turn back to Iranian ports since the blockade began.
“The blockade has been a tremendous success,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, adding that he would not lift the US embargo on the Strait of Hormuz until Washington reached a “final deal” with Iran.
But tens of ships have managed to circumvent the blockade, according to Vortexa. At least 19 tankers with links to Iran have passed through the US blockade to exit the Gulf. At least 15 have entered the Gulf, heading towards Iran from the Arabian Sea.
At least six of those that left were confirmed as carrying cargoes of Iranian crude oil, amounting to 10.7mn barrels. Iran’s oil, which is normally sanctioned, tends to sell at a discount to Brent crude. Assuming a $10 discount, that volume would represent revenue of about $910mn.
Among those that have exited is the Dorena, an Iranian-flagged supertanker that navigated past the US blockade with its transponder — the device that signals its location and identity — turned off.
According to Vortexa, the sanctioned vessel was one of two laden tankers that left Iranian waters on April 17, with two more crude oil tankers having sailed past on April 20.
Satellite imagery analysed by the FT in March shows the Dorena off the coast of Malaysia engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer — a common technique used by oil tankers to mask the origin of oil — with another sanctioned vessel. It last signalled its position off the southern coast of India on April 18.
Several sanctioned tankers have meanwhile entered the Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, including the vessels Murlikishan and Alicia, which were sanctioned by the US last year.
Both vessels travelled through the strait on the night of April 14 before sailing up to the northern end of the Gulf.
In retaliation for the blockade, Iran has maintained its control over the strait. It insists that vessels must pass via a preordained route set out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and can only do so once they have received permission from Tehran.
At least 30 vessels attempted to pass through the narrow waterway on Friday after Iran declared that the strait would be “completely open” before clarifying that it was only open to those with permission to pass.
Several ships, including a French container ship and an Indian tanker, were fired on by Iranian troops on Saturday. Transits of the waterway have subsequently dropped to a trickle.
Shipowners have said the combination of the US forces’ action and Iranian control over the strait amounts to a “double blockade”.
Most of the vessels that tried to pass on Friday U-turned and are now at anchor in the southern end of the Gulf.
Cartography by Steven Bernard
