Hormuz blacklist: one-third of vessels attacked, AFP finds

At least 14 of 45 vessels Iran has warned could face future fines, seizure or confiscation for breaching its Strait of Hormuz transit rules have already been damaged in incidents around the waterway, an AFP analysis found.

The International Maritime Organisation confirmed the incidents, and Britain's UKMTO maritime security agency classified them as attacks. UKMTO did not specify who was responsible.

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, created in May to oversee the strait, published the vessel list on X on Aug. 23. It said possible restrictions would apply during the vessels' next passage and were a response to earlier violations of Iranian rules.

Tehran has tried to impose its own shipping corridor in the northern part of the Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war began in late February. Before the war, traffic through the strategic chokepoint was open and governed by international maritime law.

AFP found that almost all the confirmed incidents involving listed vessels happened off Oman, along a route backed by the United States and banned by Iran.

Kpler maritime tracking data analysed by AFP showed that 39 vessels on the Iranian list are commodity carriers that have crossed the strait at least once since early March. Some crossed as many as 12 times, including the tanker Al Bahyah, one of whose crew members was killed in a July incident.

The analysis found more than 170 voyages by those commodity carriers over the same period. UAE ports were the next destination for 75 voyages and the last loading stop for about 70. Kpler data also showed at least one-third of the listed vessels are owned by Emirati companies.

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority said other vessels could be added to the blacklist if they conduct transfers with already named vessels.