Third Turkish vessel clears Iran's Hormuz Strait blockade
A third Turkish-flagged vessel has successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced Monday, marking another incremental diplomatic step for Ankara as it works to free its merchant fleet from a waterway effectively closed by Iran since late February.
The tanker Ocean Thunder, carrying Iraqi oil loaded at the port of Basra and bound for Malaysia, completed its transit without incident, Uraloğlu said in a post on X. The passage brings to three the number of Turkish vessels that have exited the Persian Gulf safely since the start of U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran on February 28.
With the Ocean Thunder now clear, 12 Turkish-flagged vessels remain in the vicinity of the strait, eight of which are actively seeking to leave, according to Uraloğlu. Turkish authorities, working in coordination with the foreign ministry, are continuing efforts to secure passage for those eight ships and their 156 crew members.
The first two Turkish vessels to complete the transit, the Rozana and the Neraki, crossed over the weekend, Uraloğlu confirmed on April 4, though the first had initially received Iranian clearance as early as March 13. The minister noted at the time that those early transits were facilitated in part because the ships were using Iranian ports or carrying Iran-linked cargo.
Not all remaining vessels are seeking to depart. Uraloğlu said earlier this month that four ships have not requested to leave: two are floating power generation vessels stationed on-site, and two others are waiting for conditions to stabilize.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade normally flows, has been under an effective Iranian blockade since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued transit warnings hours after the February 28 strikes, which resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In early March, the IRGC formally confirmed the closure, though it later clarified that restrictions applied primarily to vessels linked to the United States, Israel, and their Western allies.
Since mid-March, Iran has been operating a permit-based transit corridor near Larak Island, routing ships through Iranian territorial waters under IRGC oversight. Traffic has gradually increased maritime intelligence firm Windward reported 16 transits on April 1, up sharply from figures recorded in March, as more countries negotiate passage rights with Tehran.
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