Questions over the status of the U.S. military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz persisted on Tuesday, as tracking data showed that several ships had passed through the waterway, including some that had departed from Iran.
The blockade, which began Monday afternoon local time, applies to all maritime traffic entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, the U.S. military said. It remained unclear how American naval forces would enforce the prohibitions, which are aimed at cutting off Iran’s oil income after the United States and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war. The two sides are observing a two-week truce set to expire April 21.
Some of the vessels that passed through the strait on Monday — both before and after the 10 a.m. Eastern deadline when the Trump administration said the blockade had gone into effect — had departed from Iran, were carrying Iranian products or were under U.S. government sanctions, according to the trade analysis firm Kpler. It was not immediately known whether the ships that had departed from Iranian ports fell within what U.S. Central Command described as a “grace period” around the deadline, had gained permission to pass or had somehow bypassed the blockade.
Christianna, a Liberia-flagged cargo ship, exited the Persian Gulf through the strait on Monday night, after leaving the Iranian port city of Bandar Imam Khomeini, Kpler said. It said the ship was not carrying any cargo.
Elpis, a methanol carrier, traversed the strait roughly around the time that the U.S. blockade began, according to ship-tracking data. Kpler said 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.
Ship tracking data from Bloomberg and Vesselfinder shows movements of several other vessels in and around the strait over the last two days.
Murlikishan, an oil tanker, entered the Persian Gulf via the strait early Tuesday, tracking data shows. The vessel had previously been at Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates. The tanker, which was not carrying cargo on Tuesday, according to the data, had been subject to U.S. sanctions for transporting Russian and Iranian oil under its former name, MKA.
Manali, a Panama-flagged bulk carrier, also left the Persian Gulf through the strait on Tuesday morning. The vessel did not appear to have been under U.S. sanctions or recently docked at an Iranian port.
The blockade appeared to deter some vessels, at least briefly, according to ship-tracking data.
Hours before the blockade began, two vessels approaching the strait appeared to turn away. One of them, a bulk carrier linked to China called Guan Yuan Fu Xing, 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.
The Rich Starry, an oil products tanker also linked to China, appeared to turn back while nearing the strait an hour before the blockade deadline. But hours later, it turned around toward the strait again and exited the gulf. The vessel, known earlier as Full Star, had been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2023 for helping Tehran evade sanctions.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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