Dozens of Iran-linked tankers bypass U.S. Navy blockade - Vortexa
Tankers that could carry nearly $1 billion worth of Iranian oil have left the Persian Gulf
According to Vortexa, at least 19 Iranian-linked tankers have left the Persian Gulf, breaking the blockade / Photo: Shutterstock.com
At least 34 tankers linked to Iran have been able to bypass the blockade by the U.S. Navy, the Financial Times reported, citing data from Vortexa, an analytical company that tracks cargo shipments.
As Vortexa reported, at least 19 tankers linked to Iran have broken the blockade and left the Persian Gulf. At least 15 more entered the Gulf from the Arabian Sea, bound for Iran.
Of the tankers that left the Persian Gulf, at least six were confirmed to be carrying a combined 10.7 million barrels of Iranian oil. Iranian oil is usually sold at a discount to benchmark Brent because of sanctions. At a discount of $10, such a volume would have brought about $910 million in revenue, the FT writes.
According to Vortexa, one of the two loaded tankers that left Iranian waters on April 17 was the Iranian-flagged supertanker Dorena. It passed the U.S. blockade with its transponder - a device that transmits the location and identification of a vessel - turned off. Two more oil tankers passed the blockade on April 20.
Context
The U.S., in an attempt to force Iran to conclude a peace agreement, imposed a blockade on all vessels entering or leaving Iranian coastal waters on April 13. The blockade was later expanded to include all Iranian vessels on the high seas, as well as vessels carrying goods that could be used by Iran in the conflict. Since then, the U.S. has detained an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman and intercepted another sanctioned tanker in the Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. Central Command said April 21 that the U.S. Navy has forced 28 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began. "The blockade has been a huge success," US President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC. He promised not to lift the blockade until a "final deal" with Iran is reached.
In turn, Iran refused to open the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and gas supplies passed before the war, because of the blockade on April 18.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
