Two ships transit Hormuz for Iran ports despite US blockade

At least two vessels transited through the Strait of Hormuz en route to Iran ports after altering their Automatic Identification System (AIS) destination data, following a US blockade on ships entering and leaving Iran, British shipping media reported.

The report by British shipping media Lloyd’s List said that following the enforcement of the blockade, some vessels with intended calls at Iran ports were observed adjusting their AIS destination signals while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the report, shortly after the blockade



took effect, at least two Iran-flagged container ships previously indicating sailing to the southern Iran port of Bandar Abbas changed their AIS messages to the more general designation of “PG Ports,” meaning “Persian Gulf ports.”

After successfully passing through the Strait, they continued their journey toward Bandar Abbas on Tuesday, said the report. Citing analysts, the report said such actions could complicate the intelligence collection phase of the US blockade and require additional resources to track and identify vessels involved in maritime traffic to Iran ports.