FILE - Cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. AFP
"The IRGC has warned various ships that due to the insecure atmosphere around the strait because of the military aggression by the US and Israel and the responses of Iran, it is not safe to pass through the strait at the moment," the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported. "With the cessation of passage of ships and tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the strait has been basically closed."
There was no formal announcement from Iranian authorities confirming a legal closure of the strait, but European maritime officials said vessels in the area had received radio warnings indicating that transit was no longer permitted.
An official with the European Union’s (EU) naval mission Aspides told Reuters that ships had received VHF transmissions from the IRGC stating that “no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz”.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also reported receiving notifications from ships in the Gulf that they had been warned about the strait’s closure.
The US Transportation Department urged commercial vessels to avoid the area following heavy US and Israeli bombing of Iran. The department’s Maritime Administration said the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea were experiencing “significant military activity” and advised ships to keep clear if possible. It also recommended that US-flagged, owned, or crewed vessels remain at least 30 nautical miles from US military ships to avoid being misidentified.
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint, carrying a significant share of global crude exports from Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the UAE, to international markets. Any sustained disruption would have immediate consequences for global energy supplies and shipping insurance costs.
Satellite imagery from ship-tracking platforms MarineTraffic and VesselFinder showed a sharp drop in activity around the Port of Hormuz in the days before the strikes. Between 20 February and 24 February, only five vessels entered the port, according to regional media reports. On 23 February, a single Iranian-flagged vessel, Atlanta 1, was docked there, per Al Shaq News.
The vessel’s cargo was not disclosed. No ships are expected to call at the port in the coming days.
The slowdown marks a stark contrast to normal traffic levels, which averaged about 30 vessels per day in the final quarter of last year. Even during previous bouts of fighting between Iran and Israel, traffic did not fall below five ships per day.
The warnings come as tensions between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran escalate following large-scale US and Israeli strikes on Iran earlier on Saturday, and subsequent retaliatory attacks, raising fears of wider disruption to energy markets and maritime security in the Gulf.
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