TEHRAN, April 24 — Another U.S.-sanctioned very large crude carrier has crossed the Strait of Hormuz to an Iranian port despite Washington’s anti-Iran naval blockade, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Friday.
The Curacao-flagged supertanker “Coba. Somerset. Yuri” has crossed the strait and been anchored east of Iran’s southern Larak Island, said the report, citing maritime tracking data.
The tanker has been under U.S. sanctions since 2024 for carrying Iran’s oil to other countries, it added.
Several Iran-linked sanctioned vessels have managed to pass through the strait following the U.S. blockade, which aims to prevent ships from traveling to and from Iranian ports through the waterway.
An Iranian supertanker, which had delivered 2 million barrels of crude oil to a ship-to-ship transfer offshore Indonesia, was en route to Iran’s southern Kharg Island after passing through the Strait of Hormuz despite the U.S. blockade, TankerTrackers, a maritime intelligence company, reported on Tuesday.
Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz beginning Feb. 28, when it barred safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iran.
Washington subsequently imposed its blockade on the waterway after its negotiations with Tehran on April 11 and 12 in Pakistan failed, further heightening the tension in the region. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
