Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. REUTERS\/Amr Alfiky<\/p>\n
Hormuz Traffic Grinds to a Halt After Iran Seizes First Vessels<\/p>\n
Apr 23, 2026 (Bloomberg) \u2013Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt on Thursday after Iran fired on commercial ships and said it had<\/p>\n
at least two vessels \u2014 a first in nearly eight weeks of war.<\/p>\n
Only one ship, bulk carrier<\/p>\n
, was seen moving through the waterway early Thursday, with none seen entering. Products tanker Ocean Jewel is currently idling at the entrance to the corridor, having aborted a transit not long after Iranian forces began firing at three ships.<\/p>\n
Two of those attacked vessels, the<\/p>\n
, were subsequently boarded by Iranian forces, marking a new stage in Tehran\u2019s efforts to exert control over traffic through Hormuz.<\/p>\n
At least one vessel made it through in the hours after the shootings.<\/p>\n
, a Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier that had delivered food to Iran crossed the strait late Wednesday, and is now heading south in the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n
Shipowners with vessels in the Persian Gulf have been on edge in recent days, with Wednesday\u2019s altercation 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 shooting at passing vessels \u2014 a move Tehran later said was a response to the US decision to maintain its own naval blockade.<\/p>\n
US forces say they have turned around 31 ships since its warships began barricading Iran\u2019s coastline on April 13, most of them oil tankers.<\/p>\n
While ship-tracking platforms indicate dozens of ships have crossed the blockade boundary, some of those have since been intercepted by US forces, the US said in a separate post. Of those, two Iranian supertankers are now anchored in Chabahar, an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman, while another is currently being escorted by a US warship.<\/p>\n
\u2019s owner is Woody Chartering Ltd., according to maritime database Equasis, which has the same Greece-based address as its manager, Grehel Shipmanagement Co. Ocean<\/p>\n
\u2019s owner and manager is Shanghai-based Ocean Jewel Shipping Co. Ltd. Ascanio Maritime Ltd., the owner of<\/p>\n
, has the same address in Athens as its manager Minoa Marine Ltd.<\/p>\n
The companies didn\u2019t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a02026\u00a0Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n