Hormuz Strait Shipping Faces Full Disruption Again as Iran and the U.S. Imposed Mutual Blockades

Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz once again came to a complete standstill on Monday, April 20, with Tehran and Washington each implementing independent blockades, while Iranian vessels continued attempting to break through American restrictions.

According to AFP, Iran suddenly revoked its previous decision to reopen this strategic waterway last Saturday, further escalating tensions with the United States, as the ceasefire agreement between both sides is set to expire overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, April 21–22, in Tehran time.

Iran stated that the United States continues maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports, which directly prompted Iran’s decision to reinstate “strict control” over the Strait of Hormuz after announcing its reopening on Friday.

Before Tehran re-closed the passage, dozens of commercial vessels had successfully passed through. Iran then issued stern warnings that any vessel attempting to approach would be considered a target for attack.

According to maritime data tracking company Kpler, only four vessels have completed one-way or two-way crossings since Sunday.

Tracking via the Marine Traffic website showed that on Monday morning, an oil tanker named "Nova Crest," flying the Iranian flag and subject to U.S. sanctions, had departed toward the Gulf of Oman. On Monday, Iranian authorities allowed another sanctioned liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, "Axon I," to enter the Persian Gulf bound for the UAE—thus exempt from U.S. blockade restrictions. The LNG carrier "G Summer" completed its reverse crossing on Sunday but apparently did not dock at an Iranian port; its last detection was near the waters close to Muscat, the capital of Oman.

According to Bloomberg, the fourth vessel to successfully cross was the Panama-flagged oil tanker "Starway," owned by a Chinese company.

The U.S. military said on Monday that since the blockade began, U.S. forces had ordered 27 ships to turn around or return to Iranian ports. On Sunday, the U.S. successfully intercepted the sanctioned container ship "Shamim," which had been detected approaching Iran's Chabahar port. Meanwhile, the Iranian cargo ship "Artman" was also instructed to reroute back to Chabahar late Sunday evening.

On Monday, President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform stating that the container ship "Touska" had been boarded and seized by U.S. forces after refusing to stop.

Despite a brief reopening of the strait, according to Bloomberg statistics, over 750 commercial vessels remained stranded in the Persian Gulf by Sunday, including approximately 350 tankers or LNG carriers.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1863033326419082/

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