Partial blockade of the Strait has begun! 0 33

The partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has come into effect. Trump announced that 34 vessels have passed through the strait. "This is the most since the start of the idiotic crisis," noted the U.S. president. Meanwhile, overall traffic remains at an extremely low level. Announcing the start of the blockade on his social media platform Truth Social, the U.S. president wrote: "The Iranian navy lies at the bottom of the sea, completely destroyed - 158 ships. (...) Warning: if any of these ships approaches our blockade, it will be immediately destroyed using the same destruction system that we apply against drug traffickers on boats at sea."

Since the beginning of the conflict with Iran on February 28, there have been 376 passages of cargo ships recorded. Of these, 244 were oil and gas tankers, most of which were headed east, beyond the Persian Gulf. A large number of vessels remain in the region waiting to pass. According to maritime companies, about 670 vessels were still west of the strait by Sunday, including 329 tankers. As of April 7, approximately 172 million barrels of oil and petroleum products were effectively blocked in the waters of the gulf.

Against the backdrop of stalled negotiations and the imposition of restrictions, oil prices have once again exceeded $100 per barrel. Since the beginning of March, 29 incidents involving commercial vessels have been recorded in the region, including 13 tankers, highlighting the ongoing risks to global energy resource supplies.

The International Maritime Organization, on the day the partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was initiated by the U.S. military, declared any restriction on shipping to be illegal, writes Deutsche Welle. "According to international law, no country has the right to prohibit safe passage or freedom of navigation through international straits for international transit," stated IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez at a press conference in London.