{"id":32743,"date":"2026-03-23T19:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/32743\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T19:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:08:11","slug":"strait-of-hormuz-remains-blocked-by-iran-while-zombie-ships-sail-through","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/32743\/","title":{"rendered":"Strait of Hormuz remains blocked by Iran while zombie ships sail through"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zombie ships brought back from the dead appear to be sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, where thousands of other vessels have avoided travelling out of fear.<\/p>\n

Iran has effectively blocked the only way out of the Persian Gulf \u2014 with drones, exploding boats, and threats of attacks \u2014 leaving about 3,000 ships stranded as the war in the Middle East continues to escalate.<\/p>\n

But over the past week, two anomalies appeared to sail in and out of the Gulf through the strait \u2014 a Japanese-owned tanker carrying liquefied natural gas, and a vehicle carrier.<\/p>\n

Iran war live updates:<\/a> For all the latest news on the war in the Middle East, read our blog.<\/p>\n

The ABC cannot independently verify the identity of the vessels, or if different ships have assumed their identities.<\/p>\n

What the data does show is the vessels broadcasting the unique identifier codes assigned to two ships which had been scrapped for parts long before the war started.<\/p>\n

The Japanese-owned tanker LNG Jamal was reportedly sold for about $US20 million ($28 million) last year to Indian ship recyclers and was being demolished.<\/p>\n

But about two weeks ago, it appeared to resurface.<\/p>\n

Tracing the sparsely available tracking data broadcast from the LNG Jamal reveals it transited the strait into the Persian Gulf sometime after March 13, and anchored off the coast near Dubai.<\/p>\n

Around March 20, the ship broadcast its location again from the other side of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The data shows it travelling out of the strait, supposedly carrying liquefied natural gas, before disappearing again.<\/p>\n

The real identity of the ship, and whether it is a tanker filled with LNG at all, is unclear.<\/p>\n

Earlier that same day, another vessel broadcasting a similar anomaly also appeared to cross the strait into the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

The ship purported to be the Japanese-owned vehicle carrier Baltic Highway, which was scrapped in 2020, also at an Indian salvage yard.<\/p>\n

The passage of the two ships, purporting to be Japanese-owned, follows reports from Japanese media outlet Kyodo News that Iran was “ready to support the passing of Japan-related vessels”, citing Iranian foreign minister Abbas Aragchi.<\/p>\n

Trump retracts threat on Iran over Hormuz<\/p>\n

The two zombie ships are the first known instances of decommissioned vessels \u2014 or at least ships pretending to be them \u2014 transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war with Iran started on February 28.<\/p>\n

Almost all traffic through the critical shipping lane, where about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and natural gas normally flows through, remains locked down.<\/p>\n

Iran’s chokehold on the global supply chain is a pressure US President Donald Trump has attempted to alleviate by threatening strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media, flanked by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as he departs the White House for Florida on March 20, 2026. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)<\/p>\n

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social on March 22.<\/p>\n

But Mr Trump reneged his threat 35 hours after making it, and indicated progress had been made in negotiations with Iran.<\/p>\n

“I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS,” he said in another post.<\/p>\n

“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”<\/p>\n

The US president has repeatedly assured the world he was winning the war over the past three weeks, but tracking the flow of oil and gas shows this may not be true on all fronts.<\/p>\n

The battle over the Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n

By moving so much of the war into the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf, Tehran has hit its adversaries where it hurts the most and analysts warn that history shows in asymmetrical warfare, the lesser power can win the day.<\/p>\n

As stranded tankers line the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, Iranian ships continue to flow in and out through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the US lifted its sanctions on Iranian oil at sea, which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said would free up about 130 million barrels of oil to the world, and help keep prices down.<\/p>\n

But marine historian and former merchant mariner Sal Mercogliano said the lifting of sanctions would only funnel more dollars to Iran while having minimal impact on the drying global supply chain.<\/p>\n

“The craziest thing is the exemption the US just gave the Iranians to basically sell their oil \u2014 it’s insane,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Iranians are running oil out of the strait, meanwhile every oil tanker loaded with oil [from other countries] can’t get out.”<\/p>\n

Tracking Iran’s shadow fleet<\/p>\n

Marine data only reveals a partial picture of the amount of Iranian oil leaving through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

A snapshot of tracking data from March 22 of Kharg Island, Iran’s largest oil export hub in the Persian Gulf, showed no trace of any oil tankers.<\/p>\n

\"vessels\"Satellite Satellite imagery of Kharg Island \/ vessels broadcasting tracking data around Kharg Island on March 22. (Supplied: Sentinel Hub\/Kpler)<\/p>\n

A few Iranian tugboats and other small vessels could be seen zipping around the port.<\/p>\n

But satellite imagery from the same day reveals a tanker parked at the island’s jetty, designed for supertankers.<\/p>\n

Maritime intelligence company TankerTrackers identified the ship as a non-Iranian supertanker with capacity to carry up to 2 million barrels of oil.<\/p>\n

Two different supertankers were also seen at Kharg Island on March 17.<\/p>\n

While some vessels concealing their locations begin broadcasting after they have left the Strait of Hormuz, others only reveal themselves thousands of kilometres away.<\/p>\n

One such vessel includes Iranian oil tanker Stark I, which travelled through the Arabian Sea to the Singapore Strait between March 9 and March 22, according to the ship’s available tracking data.<\/p>\n

Dr Mercogliano said the so-called “dark fleet” or “shadow fleet” \u2014 vessels operating outside the scope of international maritime law \u2014 was thriving as the war in the Middle East continued.<\/p>\n

“They’re able to go in there, load, come back out, and go wherever they want because you’ve got the US government saying, ‘well, we’re going to un-sanction this fuel because we got to keep gas prices in the US down’,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I would argue the other one who’s making money is Russia.”<\/p>\n

The US lifted its sanctions on Russian oil at sea on March 12.<\/p>\n

“Russia’s making more money probably than anybody right now, because of that oil that was unsanctioned, that went into India,” Dr Mercogliano said.<\/p>\n

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