Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz came to a halt today after Iran fired on commercial ships and said it had seized at least two vessels – a first in nearly eight weeks of war.
Only one ship, bulk carrier LB Energy, was seen moving through the waterway early Thursday, with none seen entering. Products tanker Ocean Jewel is currently idling at the entrance to the corridor, having aborted a transit not long after Iranian forces began firing at three ships.
Two of those attacked vessels, the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, were subsequently boarded by Iranian forces, marking a new stage in Tehran’s efforts to exert control over traffic through the strait.
At least one vessel made it through in the hours after the shootings. Ascanio, a Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier that had delivered food to Iran crossed the strait late Wednesday, and is now heading south in the Gulf of Oman.
Ship owners with vessels in the Persian Gulf have been on edge lately, with the recent incidents marking the second round of attacks in less than a week. Over the weekend, Iranian forces abruptly ended a brief opening of the strait by shooting at passing vessels – a move Tehran later said was a response to the US decision to maintain its own naval blockade.
Bloomberg
