Economy & Energy
Strait of Hormuz: IRGC says traffic of “non-compliant” ships has stopped; Iran’s blacklist reaches 124 vessels
A source close to the IRGC Navy told Iranian agencies that the passage of vessels Tehran considers “non-compliant” has stopped entirely. The claims are unconfirmed; Iran’s blacklist of ships has grown to 124.
Tehran now presents the Strait of Hormuz as closed to vessels that do not follow its rules. A source close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy told the Iranian agencies Fars and Tasnim on Friday, October 23, that the passage of ships Tehran considers “non-compliant” has stopped entirely, as Tasnim reported.
The same source attributes the development to a series of IRGC actions: the destruction of navigation-aid systems that, according to the Iranian side, served the offending ships, strikes on three tankers on Thursday and the “destruction” of another non-compliant tanker overnight. It warned that if what Tehran calls oil smuggling resumes, the response against ships and the technical systems that assist them will be “far harsher”. Any new American air intervention to protect them will meet, it said, an “immediate and more decisive” response, with responsibility resting on the US military.
Two more supertankers “hit mines”, per the IRGC
That evening the Guards announced that two more supertankers, carrying about two million barrels of crude each, struck mines while trying to cross the Strait. According to the IRGC, the ships had switched off their position-tracking systems and radars and were following a route Tehran has not approved. The claims have not been confirmed by any other party. It is the second such announcement in two days, after the four ships the Guards said they hit in the Persian Gulf and the three that they said struck mines.
The blacklist keeps growing
Iran’s blacklist is growing too. The Persian Gulf Straits Authority (PGSA), the body Tehran set up to control transits, has added to its list of non-compliant vessels seven very large crude carriers (VLCCs) linked to South Korea’s Janggeum Maritime (Sinokor). According to Lloyd’s List data published by Seoul’s Maeil Business, as of October 16 the list included 124 ships, 43 more than the 81 recorded in an earlier analysis. (Maeil Business)
Tehran warns that ships on the list may be fined, detained or seized if they pass through the Strait, and threatens to add those receiving cargoes by ship-to-ship transfer. Janggeum Maritime responds that the ships do not belong to it, that there are no South Koreans among the crews and that it has sub-chartered them to third parties. In September, vessels linked to the company accounted for 47% of VLCC transits of the Strait, and in the first ten days of October they exceeded half.
Meanwhile the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received a delayed report that a tanker leaving the Strait was hit by an unknown projectile on Thursday at 17:15 GMT, about seven nautical miles north-east of Limah, on Oman’s Musandam peninsula. The ship continued to its next port and authorities are investigating. The escalation at sea continues alongside the US naval blockade of Iran, which has now lasted 100 days.