Several more vessels have passed through the crucial Strait of Hormuz since our update earlier today, tracking data appears to show, on the first full day of the US-declared marine blockade.
As US Central Command said Sunday, the blockade only applies to traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas. Ships traveling to or from elsewhere are permitted to pass through the waterway, CENTCOM said. It added today that no ships made it past the US blockade during the first 24 hours.
At least nine commercial vessels have crossed the strait since yesterday, according to Kpler, a data intelligence and analytics platform. This includes Rich Starry, an oil tanker which has been sanctioned by the United States since 2023 due to its Iran ties, and another sanctioned Iran-linked tanker, the Elpis.
Data from MarineTraffic, a ship tracking and maritime intelligence provider, appears to show several other vessels crossing the waterway today, including a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier – the Christianna – and a tanker called Murlikishan, which is owned by a company in the Marshall Islands and has been sanctioned by the US under the Iran sanctions program.
The latest crossings listed by MarineTraffic also include an oil tanker owned by a Chinese company and a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker.
CNN cannot independently verify these journeys as shipping data can sometimes show irregularities due to signal gaps and spoofing – the transmission of false signals to mislead tracking systems.
Before the conflict erupted more than 100 vessels would typically cross the strait every day. Now, traffic is less than 10% of that.
