LONDON, April 16 — Some vessels have breached a U.S. blockade imposed on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports, a London-headquartered maritime analytics firm said in a report released on Wednesday.
According to Windward, an Iran-flagged landing craft departed Bandar Abbas on Tuesday, transited the Strait of Hormuz, and entered the Gulf of Oman, representing a clear example of a successful blockade breach.
The report also said that between Tuesday and Wednesday, an empty, falsely flagged and U.S.-sanctioned very large crude carrier was observed entering the Strait inbound via Iranian territorial waters.
The vessel likely used coastal routing to reduce exposure and was similarly assessed as a blockade-breaking movement. Despite growing enforcement, the report said the U.S. blockade has begun to shape vessel behavior in real time but has not yet halted movement through and around the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Windward, transit through the Strait remained active on Tuesday, with a total of 19 vessels crossing, including five inbound and 14 outbound.
Seven of these vessels were Iran-flagged. Inbound traffic consisted of two tankers and three cargo vessels, while outbound traffic included two tankers, one bulk carrier and 11 cargo vessels.
It added that vessel behavior shows a fragmented response to the blockade, including turnarounds, drifting and dark activity, indicating hesitation and real-time adaptation rather than uniform compliance.
However, the U.S. military claimed Wednesday that no vessels have made it past U.S. forces to enter or exit Iranian ports in the first 48 hours of the U.S. blockade.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday following stalled talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad over the weekend. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
