| Date | 3 Aug 2021 |
| Tracker | Strait of Hormuz Tensions |
| Type | Interception |
| Location |
Gulf of Oman
25.12, 56.33 (approximate) |
On August 3, 2021, roughly eight to nine armed men boarded the Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess about 60 nautical miles east of Fujairah, UAE, in the Gulf of Oman, in what UK Maritime Trade Operations called a 'potential hijack.' The crew reported disabling the engines to thwart the hijackers, who directed the vessel toward Iranian waters. By August 4, the boarders had left the ship and UKMTO declared the incident complete, with the vessel and crew safe. The US State Department said it believed the personnel were Iranian without formal confirmation; Iran's Revolutionary Guard denied any involvement.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transits | 93 +9% | 85.2 | +7% (610 → 652) |
| Tankers | 52 -4% | 54.3 | +0% (392 → 393) |
| Cargo ships | 41 +33% | 30.9 | +19% (218 → 259) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jan 2021 | Interception | Iran seizes South Korean tanker Hankuk Chemi near the Strait of Hormuz |
| 30 Jul 2021 | Strike | Iranian drone attack on tanker Mercer Street off Oman kills two crew members |
| 27 May 2022 | Interception | Iran seizes two Greek-flagged tankers, Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, in the Persian Gulf |
| 27 Apr 2023 | Interception | Iran seizes two tankers, Advantage Sweet and Niovi, within a week in the Strait of Hormuz area |
IMF PortWatch data published on GMN's Strait of Hormuz tracker shows commercial ship transits averaging 3.17 a day over 1-6 September 2026, against 85.5 a day in 2025; other counters read higher, but every independent count is a small fraction of the pre-war norm.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on 8 September 2026 it had recovered a US Navy Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz; US Central Command said the vehicle had malfunctioned more than a day earlier, and Anduril confirmed the loss.
The United States decommissioned its four Bahrain-based Avenger-class mine hunters in September 2025 and shipped the hulls home in January 2026. When Iran began mining the Strait of Hormuz two months later, according to CENTCOM, the Navy had to sail two of its last four minesweepers from Japan.