War in the Middle East: with the American blockade, what is the state of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz

American president Donald Trump announced a blockade of all ships coming to or leaving Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday starting at 4pm, French time. What is the state of traffic in the strait on Monday evening?

The American maritime blockade came into effect on Monday, April 13 at 4pm (French time) in the Strait of Hormuz. Following the failed negotiations between the United States and Iran on Sunday, American president Donald Trump announced that his country would block the passage of all ships “entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal zones”. However, based on the initial observations of franceinfo on Monday at 7:30 pm, the state of maritime traffic had not fundamentally changed since the implementation of this American super-blockade a few hours earlier.

Iranian ships were still crossing Hormuz on Monday evening. This was the case of one of the cargo ships from Tehran followed by franceinfo. The ship crossed the strait shortly before 4pm and around 6:45 pm, it was sailing along the Iranian coast towards the Gulf of Oman. As for ships from other countries heading to or departing from Iranian ports, franceinfo continued to observe them on Monday evening. For example, a tanker flying the flag of Aruba arrived at the Iranian port of Shahid Raja at 4:30 pm, half an hour after the start of the American blockade.

As for ships avoiding Iranian ports and thus evading the American blockade, maritime traffic continued at a trickle. Around ten ships crossed the strait between Sunday evening and Monday evening. They were flagged from Vietnam, Panama, or the Comoros, countries outside the conflict. All had to follow the two maritime routes set by Iran, two narrow corridors south and north of Larak Island, which forced the ships to sail along the Iranian coasts. This is a way for Tehran to filter traffic. However, two Indian ships passed by along the coast of Oman, south of the strait. These were cargo ships, so they did not carry oil and were less strategic.

At the same time, many ships remained blocked on one side or the other of the strait. There were about 800 in the Persian Gulf, waiting to be able to pass through Hormuz to return to their home port. On the other side, in the Gulf of Oman, several hundred ships were waiting to cross the strait to refuel in oil. French ships, for example, were still unable to pass. Two ships from CMA-CGM were shuttling back and forth in the Persian Gulf without being able to cross the strait and return to France.