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At least two fully laden Iranian oil tankers have sailed out of the Arabian Gulf and past a US blockade this week.
The vessels are part of a flotilla that has ferried about nine million barrels of oil to the market, Bloomberg reported.
The Hero II and Hedy, two Iranian-flagged very large crude carriers, are the latest to be captured in satellite imagery, moving past the blockade line identified by the US and into the Arabian Sea on April 20, data intelligence firm Vortexa found. The ships can together carry up to four million barrels of oil.
The figures from Vortexa suggest Iran’s exports have continued even in the face of US threats, with at least 34 Tehran-linked tankers and gas carriers making their way through the strait and past the US blockade.
It demonstrates the limits of American efforts to strangle Tehran’s crude exports, which President Donald Trump has described as a “tremendous success”, and put pressure on the Iranian regime to make concessions in negotiations.
Since the blockade began last week, the US Navy has seized an Iran-linked cargo vessel and boarded an oil tanker under sanctions in waters east of Sri Lanka, widening its area of operations.
Of the vessels crossing the strait since early last week, 19 have been heading out of the Gulf, with 17 carrying cargo. Vortexa detected the shipments using satellite imagery, as vessels seeking to circumvent US forces typically turn off their transponders.
Hero II was last seen more than a month ago when it was sailing north in the Strait of Malacca, while Hedy last broadcast its location near Khor Fakkan in late February.
The ultimate destination of the ships was not clear. The vast majority of Iranian crude exports end up in China, although India received two shipments of Iranian crude in recent weeks, before a US waiver expired.
Other vessels are also testing the US naval blockade. The G Summer, a small liquefied petroleum gas carrier that is under US sanctions, crossed the strait on Tuesday. Ship-tracking data shows it has since passed the boundary where the US Navy said it was running its operation.
A Gambia-flagged cargo ship, the Lian Star, transited Hormuz on Tuesday and is sailing close to the Iranian coastline near the boundary.
