| Date | 11 Jan 2024 |
| Tracker | Strait of Hormuz Tensions |
| Type | Interception |
| Location |
Gulf of Oman
25.12, 56.33 (approximate) |
On January 11, 2024, Iran's navy seized the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas, carrying Iraqi crude bound for Turkey, while it transited international waters in the Gulf of Oman, and diverted it toward Iranian waters off Qeshm Island. Iranian officials cited a judicial order; the seizure was widely viewed as retaliation for the United States' 2023 confiscation of the same vessel, then sailing as Suez Rajan, and its Iranian-origin oil cargo over sanctions violations. The US State Department condemned the seizure and demanded the ship's release, calling it part of a pattern of Iranian actions disrupting international commerce.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transits | 74 +2% | 72.4 | +20% (471 → 564) |
| Tankers | 52 +19% | 43.6 | +22% (294 → 359) |
| Cargo ships | 22 -24% | 28.8 | +16% (177 → 205) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 13 Apr 2024 | Interception | Iranian commandos rappel from helicopter to seize container ship MSC Aries near Strait of Hormuz |
| 14 Nov 2025 | Interception | Iran's IRGC seizes Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Talara off Khor Fakkan |
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.