Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized 2 container ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, transferring them to Iranian waters after accusing the vessels of operating without authorization and manipulating navigation systems. Iranian media identified the ships as MSC Francesca, a Panama-flagged container ship, and Epaminondas, a Liberia-flagged container ship. A third vessel, Euphoria, was targeted and disabled off Iran’s coast, according to Iranian media, though Greece’s foreign minister said it remained unclear whether the Greek-linked ship had been seized.
Iranian state television quoted the Guard as saying the ships had been halted to defend what it characterized as Iran’s sovereign rights at sea. According to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, gunfire struck at least two container ships in the waterway — a Guard gunboat approached one vessel on Wednesday and discharged weapons without any prior radio contact, while a second ship had already taken fire the previous day, leaving its bridge severely damaged.
These events happened just after President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran. According to CNN, Trump promised to keep the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and gave Iran a short deadline to present a single proposal for restarting talks. CNN also reported, citing sources, that the administration does not want an open-ended truce and sees the blockade as a way to keep pressure on Iran during negotiations. Trump’s top advisers think disagreements among Iranian leaders have stopped them from agreeing on a final deal.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rejected the premise that economic pressure would force concessions. “A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by a naval blockade,” he wrote on X, adding that “reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible with a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”
LSEG tracking data showed roughly six vessels, among them three oil tankers, passing through the strait on Wednesday — a fraction of the prewar pace, when daily crossings numbered well over 100 ships.
Since fighting began, the International Transport Workers’ Federation has fielded 1,900 calls for help from crews and their families stuck in the Persian Gulf region; the broader conflict has left roughly 20,000 seafarers stranded in total. The federation reported successfully arranging the return home of 450 of those workers.
The disruption to shipping through the strait has been described as the largest oil supply disruption in history. Before hostilities broke out, roughly a fifth of global crude oil moved through the strait each day. Rystad Energy projects that throughput will not recover to 90% of those levels until July, with refined products facing a further delay of up to two months from the time barrels leave the region to when they reach processing facilities.
Over the weekend, American naval forces opened fire on an Iranian cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman before boarding and taking control of it; Trump described the ship as a blockade-runner. Separately, Iranian forces struck what appeared to be Indian-flagged ships on Saturday — just one day after Tehran had announced the strait was safe for commercial transit — drawing a formal protest from India’s government.