Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority has blacklisted 45 tankers for violating its transit rules through the Strait of Hormuz, threatening fines, detention and cargo confiscation in the latest escalation of the maritime standoff.
The announcement, posted on X late Sunday by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a body Tehran established to manage traffic through the strategic waterway, named vessels linked to major Gulf shipping companies including Saudi Arabia’s Bahri and Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Logistics and Services. Iran warned that any ship conducting ship-to-ship transfers with the blacklisted tankers would itself face punitive measures, a provision that significantly widens the potential impact on global tanker operations.
Traffic Collapses to a Fraction of Pre-War Levels
The blacklist comes as Hormuz traffic has already plummeted. Just four commodity vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, down from 13 on Saturday, according to Reuters data from analytics firm Kpler. UK Maritime Trade Operations estimates that AIS-detected traffic remains roughly 90 percent below pre-war levels. Before the conflict began in February, approximately 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply transited through Hormuz daily.
The extension of liability to vessels conducting ship-to-ship transfers introduces a secondary layer of risk that could deter even uninvolved operators from routine transshipment activities in the region, analysts at OilPrice.com noted. Shipping companies and cargo owners with vessels on the blacklist face acute operational and financial uncertainty.
Iranian Rial Crashes as Sanctions Loom
The move escalates tensions just hours before US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to unveil what he has called the single greatest financial offensive ever against Iran. Bessent has framed the planned measures as an economic D-Day aimed at severing every economic lifeline sustaining the Islamic Republic. The New York Times reported that China was being urged to cooperate with Washington on reopening the strait.
Iran’s currency hit a new open-market low on Monday, with the dollar surpassing 2 million rials for the first time, according to CNBC. Traders are anticipating higher prices if tighter sanctions further restrict Iran’s export capacity, though Tehran has adapted to years of sanctions by finding new trading partners and building domestic industries.
An Escalating Maritime Confrontation
Iran’s demands for reopening the strait include lifting the US naval blockade, withdrawing American forces from the region, and reparations for war damages. Tehran has also threatened to prevent any oil from leaving the Persian Gulf if Washington proceeds with its economic offensive. Bloomberg reported that Iranian crude shipments to Asia have already all but dried up, even before the new measures are announced.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday that the seven-day average of oil leaving Hormuz had climbed above 8 million barrels per day, but the latest restrictions could reverse that fragile recovery. The blacklist signals that strait-related coercion is now a standing instrument of Iranian state policy rather than a reactive measure, raising the prospect of direct naval confrontation with Western assets already present in the region.
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