All posts tagged: Strait

Iran declares Strait of Hormuz open to shipping during Lebanon ceasefire

Iran declares Strait of Hormuz open to shipping during Lebanon ceasefire

Published by Sam Flores

Iran on Friday declared the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial ships during the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but confusion quickly emerged about whether the sea lane was really open without conditions. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media. However, vessels must transit through a “coordinated route” announced by Iran’s maritime authorities, Araghchi said. It is unclear whether Tehran will force ships to pay a toll to pass the strait. President Donald Trump on Friday thanked Iran for opening the strait in a social media post. But Trump said the U.S. naval blockade of Iran’s ports will remain in effect until an agreement is reached with Tehran. Iranian media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard described a limited reopening of the strait. Commercial ships must coordinate with Iranian forces, a source close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council told Tasnim News. Ships are not allowed …

Trump faces tests from Cuba to the Strait of Hormuz

Trump faces tests from Cuba to the Strait of Hormuz

Published by Sam Flores

A man stands as a tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, northwestern Cuba, on March 31, 2026. Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images Energy shipments are increasingly being used as a foreign policy tool as the Trump administration attempts to hold down two blockades on opposite sides of the globe. The U.S., under the direction of President Donald Trump, has initiated a naval blockade targeting Iranian vessels in and around the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, seeking to put economic pressure on Iran and bring an end to the Middle East crisis. The move has prompted concern from China, given it has long been the largest buyer of Iranian crude, with Beijing calling the blockade “irresponsible and dangerous.” Iran, for its part, on Friday declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” to all commercial traffic in the wake of a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon. At the same time, the U.S. has imposed a de facto fuel blockade on Cuba, threatening to …

Spoofed Tankers Are Flooding the Strait of Hormuz. These Analysts Are Tracking Them

Spoofed Tankers Are Flooding the Strait of Hormuz. These Analysts Are Tracking Them

Published by skeptic

A month and a half into the war between Iran and the US and Israel, Michelle Wiese Bockmann has seen one constant: disappearing ships. This is not unusual in the Strait of Hormuz, says Bockmann, a senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward AI who has been tracking shipping across the globe for 30 years. For nearly a decade now, “shadow fleets” engaged in shady practices—say, violating international sanctions by transporting crude oil from Iran—have periodically turned off their transponders. These devices typically broadcast ships’ names, locations, routes, and IMO (International Maritime Organization) numbers. Those unique, seven-digit IMO identifiers allow trackers like Bockmann to trace the ships throughout their floating lifetimes. Jamming and “spoofing” these transponder signals, either by interfering with their satellite signals or creating false ones to make the ships appear where or what they’re not, isn’t new. But the scale is. At one point last month, “well over half of the vessels in the strait had their signals jammed,” Bockmann says. Today, more than 800 vessels are in the Persian Gulf, according to …

How Trump’s Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Works

How Trump’s Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Works

Published by Sam Flores

Our business reporter Peter Eavis breaks down how American military ships have blocked Iranian-linked vessels from using the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. encourages other vessels to make the passage. By Peter Eavis, Leila Medina, Nikolay Nikolov, Rafaela Balster, Stephanie Swart, Sutton Raphael, Josh Holder, Adina Renner and Blacki Migliozzi April 16, 2026 Source link

Iran blockade near Hormuz Strait deterred 13 ships

Iran blockade near Hormuz Strait deterred 13 ships

Published by Sam Flores

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine speaks as a map of the Strait of Hormuz is displayed during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2026. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images The U.S. Navy has turned back 13 ships since its blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman began more than 24 hours earlier, the Pentagon said Thursday. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after complaining that Tehran has not appeared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, one of his conditions for agreeing to the fragile two-week ceasefire that is currently in effect. The attempt to ratchet pressure on Iran began after an initial round of U.S.-Iran peace talks failed over the weekend. The U.S. on Wednesday continued to signal optimism about the prospect of reaching a diplomatic end to the war, which began Feb. 28. “The U.S. action is a blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline, not a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,” …

Germany prepared to send minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

Germany prepared to send minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The minesweeping plan was first reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung. Merz reiterated his government’s position after meeting Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Berlin on Thursday. He stressed that Germany is “fundamentally ready” to help secure shipping routes, but only under strict conditions. Those include a stable ceasefire, a mandate within a system of collective security — “preferably” from the United Nations — and formal approval by both the federal government and the Bundestag. Merz underlined that Berlin remains “far away” from such a decision. The signal comes as a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran is in effect but has yet to fully stabilize the situation in the strait, where Iran blocked traffic and the U.S. responded by blocking Iranian vessels. U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed NATO allies to move quickly, demanding commitments “within days” following his meeting with alliance Secretary-General Mark Rutte in early April. However, allies have been leery of getting involved in any combat action in the war started by Trump without consulting them. Source link

How the Iran War, Then the U.S. Blockade, Has Changed the Strait of Hormuz: Maps

How the Iran War, Then the U.S. Blockade, Has Changed the Strait of Hormuz: Maps

Published by Sam Flores

Iranian threats hobbled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the war, moving what little remained north into its own waters. Before war Feb. 18–27 After Iranian retaliation April 3–12 Now the U.S. has mounted a blockade of its own, redrawing the board once again. After the U.S. blockade U.S. ships enforcing blockade in Gulf of Oman U.S. ships enforcing blockade in Gulf of Oman The American blockade aims to upend a dynamic that had become the new normal in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel launched the war in late February: Iran allowed ships carrying its own cargo to pass through the strait, even as it attacked commercial vessels and effectively halted shipping from almost everybody else. Though Iran was getting much-needed revenue from the Iranian-linked oil tankers it allowed to pass, the U.S. allowed them to keep transiting the strait. The goal was to temper the sharp increases in oil prices tied to the war. Most ships leaving the Persian Gulf came from Iranian ports Where ships exiting the …

Iran war disruptions will last after Hormuz Strait reopens

Iran war disruptions will last after Hormuz Strait reopens

Published by Sam Flores

Countries affected by the Iran war should prepare for conflict-related disruptions to last for months, even if the current shaky ceasefire lasts and the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, World Bank President Ajay Banga said Wednesday. “It’ll still take a few months for things to come back to where they were” once the key oil-shipping route is no longer choked off amid Iranian threats and a U.S. blockade, Banga told CNBC’s Karen Tso at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting. “So we have to prepare for a few months of some destabilization for these countries,” he said. Banga said that the World Bank has prepared a “war chest” plan to provide countries with varying levels of funding, depending on how long the conflict drags on. “Thanks to our crisis toolkit, our countries can get about $20 to $25 billion immediate access, like literally tomorrow morning, without new approvals,” he said. If the war continues for the next five or six months, that figure could rise to $60 billion, he said. Over the next 15 months, …

U.S. Blockade in Strait of Hormuz Appears to Hold

U.S. Blockade in Strait of Hormuz Appears to Hold

Published by Sam Flores

new video loaded: U.S. Blockade in Strait of Hormuz Appears to Hold transcript Back transcript U.S. Blockade in Strait of Hormuz Appears to Hold The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz appeared to be working on Wednesday, as marine trackers reported no Iran-linked ships entering or exiting the strait since the blockade began on Monday. “I had to divert because if I didn’t do that, right now you would have Iran with a nuclear weapon. And if they had a nuclear weapon, you would be calling everybody over there ‘sir.’ And you don’t want to do that.” “Well, you keep saying ‘was’ — is this war over?” “I think it’s close to over, yeah, I mean, I view it as very close to over. You know what? If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.” The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz appeared to be working …