Three Iranian tankers exit Hormuz blockade in first crude exports in two months

Three tankers carrying Iranian crude oil have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the United States imposed a naval blockade against Iran in mid-April, a vessel tracking website said on June 17, in a possible sign of easing pressure ahead of planned peace talks between Tehran and Washington.

Senior Iranian and US representatives are due to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Switzerland on June 19 aimed at ending a war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February that lasted 39 days.

TankerTrackers.com, which monitors global oil storage and shipments using digital data cross-checked with satellite imagery, confirmed what it described as Iran’s first crude exports in two months.

“According to AIS data, which we corroborated… by satellite imagery, at least two National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) VLCC supertankers named DIONA and HERO2 have exited the US Navy blockade perimeter carrying a combined total of 3.8mn barrels of Iranian crude oil between them,” the company said in a post on X.

“These are Iran’s first crude oil exports in two months,” it added.

TankerTrackers.com later said a third NITC vessel, a Suezmax tanker carrying 1mn barrels of Iranian crude, had also crossed the blockade line.

The monitoring firm also said NITC’s STREAM was approaching the blockade perimeter from Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone after spending the previous seven weeks waiting to enter Iran.

The United States imposed the blockade after Iran sharply restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz from early March in response to the conflict.

The strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman normally carries around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Since imposing restrictions on maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on April 13, Washington has intercepted and returned more than 130 ships linked to Iran and attacked some vessels as part of an effort to squeeze Tehran’s oil exports and trade flows.