(Bloomberg) — Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt Thursday after Iran fired on commercial shipping and said it had seized at least two vessels — the first in nearly eight weeks of war.
Only one ship, the bulk carrier LB Energy, was seen passing through the waterway early Thursday, with none seen entering. The product tanker Ocean Jewel is currently idle at the entrance to the corridor and interrupted transit shortly after Iranian forces opened fire on the three ships.
Two of those attacked ships, MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, were subsequently boarded by Iranian forces, marking a new stage in Tehran’s efforts to control traffic through Hormuz.
At least one vessel passed within hours of the shots being fired. The Ascanio, a Marshall Islands-flagged Greek bulk carrier that delivered food to Iran, crossed the strait late Wednesday and is now heading south in the Gulf of Oman.
Ship owners with vessels in the Persian Gulf have been on edge in recent days, with Wednesday’s spat marking the second round of attacks in less than a week. Over the weekend, Iranian forces abruptly ended a brief opening of the strait by firing on passing vessels – a move Tehran later said was in response to a US decision to maintain its own naval blockade.
US forces say they have turned around 31 ships, mostly oil tankers, since their warships began barricading Iran’s coast on April 13.
While ship-tracking platforms indicate dozens of ships have crossed the blockade line, some have since been detained by US forces, the US said in a separate statement. Of these, two Iranian supertankers are now docked in Chabahar, Iran’s port in the Gulf of Oman, while another is currently being escorted by a US warship.
LB Energy is owned by Woody Chartering Ltd., according to maritime database Equasis, which has the same address in Greece as its manager, Grehel Shipmanagement Co. Ocean Jewel is owned and managed by Ocean Jewel Shipping Co. Ltd Shanghai-based Ascanio Maritime Ltd., the owner of Ascanio, has the same address in Athens as its manager Mino.
The companies did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
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