Tehran: Even as the US continued to block the Strait of Hormuz, a significant number of oil tankers linked to the waterway, raising questions of the effectiveness
of the step taken by Washington. As per cargo tracking data by Vortexa, 34 ships have passed through the Strait since the blockade was announced.
As per the report, these vessels were involved in inbound as well as outbound movements. Notably, while 19 ships exited from the waterway after passing through the restricted passage, 15 entered through the Arabian Sea. Many of these ships were carrying crude oil.
Iran’s ability to continue with exports and imports despite the blockade
The report suggested Iran’s ability to continue with exports and imports even after facing continuous pressure from Israel and the US. Among the ships that were going out of the Gulf, six were transporting Iranian crude, with a volume of around 10.7 million barrels. As per the Financial Times, the total value of these shipments could be around $910 million.
Did some ships use evasive tactics?
The report further noted that some ships seemed to have tried to use evasive tactics to avoid any kind of detection. Dorena was believed to have crossed the blockade by switching off its tracking transponder. The method is commonly used not to get noticed by maritime monitoring systems.
The US had earlier announced a blockade on April 13. In his announcement, US President Donald Trump had said that the step was being taken not to allow ships to pass through by giving toll tax on Iran at the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war. The announcement was made hours before the ceasefire was set to end. Tehran is yet to confirm its agreement on the ceasefire extension.
