Ships carrying Iranian oil are using secret codes to bypass Tehran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a stunning report.
This has allowed dozens of vessels — all tied to countries that still purchase Iran’s crude — to escape the perilous shipping lane, while thousands of others remain stranded in the Persian Gulf.
Tehran has effectively closed the strait as a result of the war — cutting off a passage that saw some 130 ships travel through its waters every day.
Since then, only 90 ships have been able to transit, according to maritime trackers.
Huax, a German-Italian maritime intelligence firm, found that the ships that have made the journey were linked to Iran’s oil industry or had gotten permission to cross, with the vessels broadcasting a secret signal that identifies them as being clear for passage, The Times of London reported.
“Whether they are signals to Tehran or internal fleet identifiers, we cannot confirm, but the signals are coordinated across multiple vessels,” Arsenio Longo, a maritime intelligence expert at Huax, told the outlet.
“Indian and China-linked vessels appear to be transiting or staging for transit while virtually all other commercial traffic remains blocked,” he added.
Some of the ships have also sent out messages that read, “GOVT OF INDIA SHIP” and “INDIAN SHIP&INDCREW,” highlighting India’s limited success in negotiating a safe passage with Iran.
Around 20% of the world’s oil supply travels through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran’s blockade leaving roughly 2,000 ships trapped in the area, according to the International Maritime Organization.
The IMO has called on nations to urgently find ways to evacuate the trapped ships, which are carrying about 20,000 seafarers on board.
Ships that attempt to cross the strait without Tehran’s permission risk being attack, with about 20 vessels struck this month.
Despite the volatile situation, Iran has still managed to export more than 16 million barrels of oil, most of it to China, trade data and analytics platform Kpler estimated.
At least 14 Iran-flagged tankers have also reached the Singapore Strait, according to analysis from U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).
It’s “business as usual” for Iran, UANI senior adviser Charlie Brown told Reuters, with another 15 of Tehran’s vessels sailing back to the Gulf after unloading their cargo in Asia.
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With Iran virtually holding full control over the Strait of Hormuz, lawmakers in Tehran have gone as far as discussing new rules to establish a transit fee through the waterway, state media reported.
It would effectively allow Tehran to control the economic flow through the strait, as Egypt does with the Suez Canal.
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