The US navy has allowed no ships to exit Iranian ports during the first 24 hours of the blockade, according to US Central Command (Centcom).
"No ships made it past the US blockade and six merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman," Centcom said.
The US began its naval blockade on Monday, 13 April, with the aim to intercept ships leaving Iranian ports or heading to Iran through the strait of Hormuz. This came after US and Iranian officials failed to make a breakthrough in negotiations in Pakistan over the weekend. Centcom said today that the blockade extends along the Iranian coastline, within the Mideast Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman.
Ships continued to transit the strait of Hormuz during this period, including several linked to Iran, but US attention instead appears to be focused on a port-by-port blockade rather than on the strait. This could potentially shrink traffic through the strait in the coming days if ships with Iranian cargoes are unable to load or depart.
Transit through the strait of Hormuz has been relatively consistent at around 5-10 ships/day in the first half of April, with a high percentage of these being linked to Iran. The Rich Starry, a US-sanctioned Handysize tanker, seemed to pass eastbound through the strait after making a u-turn, then turned around again in the afternoon.
