U.S. Says No Ships Passed Iran Blockade in First 24 Hours

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

LIVE * April 14, 2026 at 4:53 pm ET

U.S. Says No Ships Passed Iran Blockade in First 24 Hours

More than 10,000 U.S. sailors, Marines and airmen were involved in the mission, as well as more than a dozen warships and aircraft, U.S. Central Command said.

U.S. Central Command said no ships out of Iranian ports have gone through the U.S. blockade within its first 24 hours. Six merchant vessels obeyed direction from U.S. forces to reverse course and re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, according to Centcom. No interdictions have been reported so far--and enforcement is unlikely to happen in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile,

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-us-cease-fire-talks-stalled-2026?mod=lc_navigation

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Yeah, but

Trump's Iran Blockade Not Working as Multiple Ships Pass Through
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143650240

and

Commercial Ships Transit Strait of Hormuz as U.S. Blockades Iran's Ports
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143650317

which will get moved as a duplicate.

Explain? Apparently the "no ships" state of affairs applies to the first 24 hours. After that, the blockade was not total.

Anyone?

[BumRushDaShow]

1. It depends on what they define as a "ship"

NBC News parses it this way -

U.S. military turned back six ships in first 24 hours of Iranian port blockade

They also include stipulations -

(snip)

The official is not aware of whether the ships that have transited and continued along — like the Chinese tanker the Rich Starry — have paid a toll to the Iranians. The official reiterated that the Starry was not in violation of the U.S. terms of the blockade because it originated in the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. military did not order it to turn around.

So of the literal hundreds of ships there, they proclaim "SUCCESS!" for thwarting 6 of them (that they saw).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. On the one hand,

On the one hand, you have The Wall StreetJournal. On the other hand, you have Doogie Jesus, MD.

This is too much for me to process.

See ya.

[RoseTrellis]

2. Centcom statement

Trump running his mouth and talking out his ass doesn’t agree with what Centcom stated. Suprise!
“U.S. Central Command will enforce a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas effective 1400 UTC on 13 April 2026.
This blockade will be enforced in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade encompasses the entirety of the Iranian coastline to include but not limited to ports and oil terminals. The blockade applies to all vessel traffic, regardless of flag.
Neutral vessels currently in Iranian ports are granted a grace period to depart Iranian ports that expires at 1400 UTC on 13 April 2026. Following this time, any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture.
The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations.”

It appears the main source of confusion is WHERE the US is enforcing their blockade. It is NOT at the straits itself, rather it’s much further east, 50-100 miles in the Gulf of Oman. The last thing the US Navy wants to do is operate in the choke point itself, they can have the exact same effect by interdicting traffic just a little way east outside the SoH; looking at a map the US can easily maintain a picket line and stop any ship before it gets into the Arabian Sea.

Fortunately, all the ship data is open source and anyone can see it for themselves. Www.marinetraffic.com has some great tools for seeing exactly what’s going on.

I tried looking for all 6 ships centcom claims to have turned around or stopped.
I’ve only been able to uncover 3 of them.
1) Ostria - attempted to cross the strait outbound, turned back and anchored.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid 15888/vessel:OSTRIA]

2) Elpis - crossed the strait outbound, but stopped and anchored on the other side, near where Centcom says the blockade begins.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6295238/vessel:ELPIS

3) Rich Starry - this ship recently started broadcasting that it is. Chinese ship with Chinese crew… This is probably the most tracked ship. It turned around outbound prior to leaving the strait, then turned around once on the other side again, again and anchored on the east side. As of a few hours ago, it’s steaming west again and back into the SoH
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3722428/vessel:RICH%20STARRY

[republianmushroom]

4. As I read this,

U.S. Central Command said no ships out of Iranian ports have gone through the U.S. blockade within its first 24 hours. Out of Iranian ports, not those traversing the straits.

[RoseTrellis]

5. Rich Starry

This one definitely stopped and reversed course.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3722428

[Martin68]

6. Liars.