Two More Tankers Escape Strait of Hormuz by Running Dark
Two more tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz with tracking systems off as shipping responds to Iran's attempt to extract payment for passage through international waters.
The Very Large Crude Carrier Nissos Keros, registered under the Marshall Islands flag and chartered by Swiss trading firm Vitol, is now en route to India carrying 1.8 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates, as Breitbart News reports. The vessel’s destination is Visakhapatnam port, home to a refinery operated by Hindustan Petroleum, a subsidiary of India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
A second vessel, the Chinese-flagged liquefied natural gas carrier Hua Lin Wan, also completed the passage while operated by state-owned COSCO shipping corporation. The tanker is transporting a naphtha cargo from Kuwait and is expected to reach Huizhou port in China within approximately two weeks.
Lin Ji, president of COSCO, confirmed to Lloyd’s List that the company is coordinating vessel withdrawals and prioritizing crew safety, though he declined to identify with whom coordination was taking place.
Both the Nissos Keros and Hua Lin Wan reportedly made the crossing with their Automatic Identification System transponders disabled. Three other Chinese vessels approached the strait but reversed course, with one broadcasting its Chinese identity before turning back.
According to Breitbart News, another LNG carrier, the Umm Al Ashtan, ceased transmitting position data off the Emirati coast on May 1 but reappeared days later off Oman, heading toward India with cargo from the Das Island terminal in the UAE. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, listed as the vessel’s manager, refused comment on the transit.
These vessels join a growing list of ships that have passed through the strait over recent days, including three LNG tankers and an oil tanker that made safe passage over the weekend bound for Pakistan, China, and India. None of the companies operating these vessels have addressed whether payments were made to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to secure passage.
Industry sources indicate Malaysia’s government requested Iranian permission for seven ships to transit the strait, including the supertanker VLCC Eagle Veracruz, which appears to have completed the passage this week en route to Quanzhou, China with Saudi crude oil.
U.S. Sanctions Iran’s New Toll Authority
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Wednesday targeting Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the entity established by the IRGC to collect so-called tolls from international shipping. Treasury officials emphasized that all revenue collected by the authority flows directly to the IRGC, which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in April 2019.
The department issued a stark warning that entities cooperating with the strait authority risk providing material support to the IRGC and face potential sanctions exposure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized the Iranian military’s toll scheme as evidence that the administration’s Economic Fury campaign has left Tehran cash-starved. He emphasized that the United States has imposed what he called a financial stranglehold on the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, cutting off funding streams for weapons programs, terrorist proxy networks, and nuclear development.
Bessent pledged continued aggressive action under President Trump’s direction to dismantle the network of vessels, intermediaries, and purchasers through which Iran exports both petroleum products and, as he put it, malevolence.
With information from Breitbart News
