The tanker under sanctions failed to break the U.S. blockade in the Ormuz Strait

The tanker under sanctions did not break the blockade. Rich Starry He did leave the Persian Gulf, but the latest data from April 15 indicate that after moving towards the Strait of Ormuz he turned around. This is an important change to the information that went through the media the day before.

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Rich Starry returned at the entrance to Ormuz

Reuters stated on 14 April that Rich Starry was the first unit covered by US sanctions to pass through the Ormuz Strait after starting a shipping blockade associated with Iranian ports. A day later, however, it turned out that after leaving the Persian Gulf, the tanker had returned to Ormuz. Thus, earlier reports of breaching the blockade proved premature.

More than 10,000 U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen wars and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports. During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 Merchant vessels... pic.twitter.com/dpWAAknzQp
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 14, 2026

The unit belongs to Chinese shipowner Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co. Ltd. and was subject to US sanctions for related trade with Iran. According to data cited by Reuters, the ship carried about 250,000 barrels of methanol loaded in Hamriyah, United Arab Emirates.

U.S. puts pressure on Iran

The American blockade we wrote about earlier on our portal, it came into force on 14 April at 16:00 Polish time, after a fiasco of talks with Iran. According to media reports, activities are intended to cover the movement of ships to and from Iranian ports, but formally do not mean the total closure of the Ormuz Strait for shipping between ports of other countries of the region. This is an important distinction because in the media circulation both concepts are mixed.

On April 15, Washington announced that Iran's maritime trade was in practice stopped. Reuters reported that part of the ships were returned, including units related to Iran's oil trade and oil products. The situation in the Ormuz Strait and the course of the U.S. blockade will be further described in the next text.