Sanctioned tankers transit Strait of Hormuz amid US blockade

At least three vessels, including two United States-sanctioned tankers, have entered the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on the first full day of the US ⁠blockade on ships calling at Iranian ports, according to shipping data.

As the three vessels transiting the strait on Tuesday were not heading to Iranian ports, they were not affected by the blockade.

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Panama-flagged Peace Gulf, a medium-range ‌tanker, is heading to Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, LSEG data showed. The vessel typically moves Iranian naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, to other non-Iranian ports in the Middle East for export to Asia, Kpler data showed.

Prior to this, two US-sanctioned tankers passed through the narrow waterway, through which a fifth of global energy exports pass. Handy tanker Murlikishan is heading to Iraq to load ⁠fuel oil on Thursday, Kpler data showed. ⁠The vessel, formerly known as MKA, has transported Russian and Iranian oil.

Another sanctioned tanker, Rich Starry, would be the first to make it through the strait and to ⁠exit the Gulf since the blockade began on Monday, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The tanker and its ⁠owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd, were sanctioned ⁠by the US for dealing with Iran.

Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker, carrying about 250,000 barrels ‌of methanol, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its last port of call, Hamriyah, the data showed. The Chinese-owned ‌tanker ‌has a Chinese crew on board, the data showed.

US blockade

US President Donald Trump announced a blockade of Iranian ports on Sunday after weekend peace talks between the US and Iran ⁠in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad failed to reach a deal.

Before that, Iran had brought traffic through the strait – a key route for global energy shipments – to a near-total halt in response to US-Israeli attacks on its territory since February 28.

The Iranian de facto control over the chokepoint sent gas and petrol prices skyrocketing around the world. Now, Washington aims to take away Tehran’s control over the strait, making it impossible for Iranian tankers, which have continued to pass each day, to transit.

“This complicates everything for commercial vessels that have been stranded in the Gulf. They now have to get permission from Iran to pass through, as well as the US,” said Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina, reporting from Kuwait City.

“There’s a real risk of escalation here, because if Iranian vessels are stopped, if Iranian oil is stopped, Iran could perhaps stop other vessels from the Gulf coming and entering the strait,” Traina said.

‘Dangerous and irresponsible’

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that the US “increased military operations and took a targeted blockade action, which will only exacerbate tensions and undermine the already fragile ceasefire agreement”.

He said the US move “further jeopardises safety of passage through the strait”, calling it “dangerous and irresponsible behaviour”.

China gets more than half of its oil from the Middle East, especially Iran. According to data from Kpler, China bought more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil last year. China’s imports of Iranian crude were 1.4 million barrels of oil per day last year, out of a total 10.4 million barrels of seaborne crude imports per day.

Despite the blockade, prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough are not completely dead.

Trump said there is still room for Iran to strike a deal, and a Pakistani official told Al Jazeera that the country is ready to host the process to bring peace for as many rounds as it takes, adding that diplomatic contact between all sides was continuing.