US President Donald Trump has threatened to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran announced it would stop adhering to the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries. In a new post today (Monday), President Trump announced that the United States would “charge a fee to guard the Straits,” noting that the US government had an agreement with Tehran that “they broke. We will be the guards of the Strait.”
Bloomberg reported that a limited number of ships secretly crossed the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, when monitored crossings were almost completely suspended amid rising military tensions between the United States and Iran.
All six commodity tankers that passed through the Strait of Hormuz (Sunday) did so after switching off their transponders, according to preliminary data from Kpler.
The number of secret level crossings, known as “dark level crossings,” exceeded any observed level crossings in the previous three days.
Today, vessel tracking data based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals revealed that in addition to the cargo ship, a “Dark Fleet” small tanker was attempting to cross the Channel.
In addition to the few passages we were able to monitor, recently a vessel appeared on one side of the Strait of Hormuz, broadcasting its final position from the other side, then indicating that it had passed through the strait without turning on its transmitter.
As the military conflict between the United States and Iran intensifies, there is a trend among ship owners to conceal their movements when transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Each presents a different story about who rules the Straits.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said ships following the U.S.-backed route “face risks.”
The crossings observed in the southern corridor along the Oman coast have completely stopped, with the last crossing taking place via this route (Wednesday). This differs from the Northern Corridor, which Iran has designated as a safe route and continued to admit limited numbers of traffic until Saturday.
A series of attacks by Iran on ships using the Oman corridor, including some ships having their transmitters turned off, has prompted ships to avoid this route.
Another option for shipowners is to use the northern route, but this could expose them to costs imposed by Iran in addition to the risk of sanctions from the United States.
Stowaways in the Strait of Hormuz first became common in mid-April, when oil tankers began turning off their tracking devices.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran announced it would stop adhering to the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries. In a new post today (Monday), President Trump said the United States “will charge a fee to guard the Strait,” pointing out that the agreement the U.S. government made with Tehran “is one they violated and we will be the guardians of the Strait.”
Bloomberg reported that a limited number of ships have been secretly passing through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, while nearly all monitored crossing operations have been halted amid rising military tensions between the United States and Iran.
All six cargo tankers that passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday passed in a straight line after switching off their transponders, according to Kpler’s preliminary data.
The secret intersection, known as the “dark intersection,” exceeded the number of intersections observed in the previous three days.
Ship tracking data based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals today showed that a small tanker from the “Dark Fleet” was attempting to cross the Channel with a cargo ship.
Other than a few crossings that could be observed, the last few days have shown that after broadcasting their final position from one side of the Strait of Hormuz, ships have appeared and crossed the strait without activating their transponders.
The trend for shipowners to conceal their movements while transiting the Strait of Hormuz comes at a time of escalating military conflict between the United States and Iran. Each side presents a different story about who controls the Straits.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry considered ships navigating the U.S.-backed route “facing risks.”
Monitored crossing operations along the southern corridor along Oman’s coast have been completely halted, with the last crossing along this route taking place on Wednesday. This differs from the Northern Corridor, which Iran has designated as a safe route and continued to admit limited numbers of traffic until Saturday.
A series of attacks by Iran on ships using the Oman corridor, including turning off transponders on some ships, have prevented vessels from entering and exiting the route.
Another option for shipowners is to use the Northern Corridor, but this could expose them to costs from Iran in addition to the risk of facing sanctions from the United States.
Secret passages through the Strait of Hormuz first became common in mid-April when oil tankers began disabling their tracking devices.
