Iran Blacklists 77 Vessels Over Hormuz Violations

By Staff, Agencies

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) has updated its list of vessels accused of violating Iran’s rules for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, warning service providers against assisting the blacklisted ships.

In a post on X on Monday, the PGSA said the blacklist contains 77 vessels and is available on its website. It also warned insurance companies, protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs, and classification societies against providing services to the vessels, cautioning that they could face consequences for doing so.

Iran established the PGSA in early May to oversee transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which around one-fifth of global oil demand normally passes.

The US Treasury Department subsequently sanctioned the authority, in what Tehran described as an attempt to prevent Iran from exercising its sovereign rights over the waterway.

Iran restricted transit through the strait following the US-"Israeli" aggression that began on February 28. On June 17, Tehran and Washington signed a Pakistan-brokered Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), whose Article 5 places responsibility for reopening and managing the strait with Iran.

However, Washington later sought to establish what Iran described as an unsafe maritime corridor near the Omani coast, while resuming airstrikes against Iran and imposing a naval blockade.

Iran subsequently declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic, citing the US measures as violations of the agreement.

Shipping traffic through the strategic waterway has since fallen to its lowest level in months, contributing to a sharp rise in oil prices.

The Islamic Republic has maintained that reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on Washington fulfilling its obligations under the Pakistan-brokered MoU and respecting Iran’s authority over the strategic waterway.