Iran Shipping Update – October 26, 2026

The maritime security environment across the region remains highly volatile. Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt maritime traffic, while Iran-backed Houthi threats and attacks around the Bab el-Mandeb pose a renewed risk to shipping through the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the U.S. maritime blockade on Iranian ports continues to severely constrain the regime’s oil exports.

For UANI’s recommendations for U.S. sanctions on Iran following “Economic D-Day,” read here.

Status of the Strait of Hormuz

Since the start of the Iran War, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has confirmed 120 maritime incidents involving commercial vessels have been reported across the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman. According to the IMO, these incidents have resulted in 24 seafarer deaths.

Prior to the outbreak of the Iran War, about 138 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz daily. Throughout the conflict, marine traffic data showed large clusters of loitering vessels on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, with many ships refraining from transiting due to safety concerns. After the signing of the MoU, JMIC reported an increase in open transits through the Strait of Hormuz. On June 24, JMIC recorded 54 transits, the highest daily total since the outbreak of the conflict. As of October 24, JMIC has reported a total of 1,095 vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz since June 18, for a total of 1,708 since the beginning of the war.

In the past months, an increasing number of vessels have transited the southern corridor of the Strait of Hormuz bidirectionally without broadcasting AIS location data, with many of these movements facilitated by U.S. forces. Today, multiple vessels were observed transiting the southern corridor of the Strait of Hormuz in satellite imagery. 

Southern corridor in the Strait of Hormuz on October 26 (Credit: ESA Copernicus)

U.S.-facilitated transits through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 33.7 vessels per day with 101 transits recorded during the latest 72-hour period (October 22–24), bringing the month-to-date October total to 717 transits across 24 days at 29.9 per day, and raising the cumulative campaign total to 2,850 transits at an overall average of 22.4 per day across 127 monitored days.

Iranian Oil-Laden Tankers Departing the Gulf of Oman

Tankers laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals are currently clustering in anchorages along the Iranian coastline due to the reinstatement of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. Since the blockade resumed, only around nine small tankers carrying Iranian LPG have successfully passed the blockade line. However, UANI has not tracked any tanker laden with Iranian crude oil that has successfully departed the Gulf of Oman and avoided enforcement actions by U.S. forces since July 12, before the blockade was reinstated.  

Iranian Oil-Laden Tankers

UANI has identified at least 54 tankers laden with Iranian oil—primarily crude, but also other petroleum products and LPG—currently operating along the Iranian coastline. 

Positions of tankers laden with Iranian oil on October 26 (Credit: UANI)

Number of Iranian Loadings

Since the U.S. reinstated the maritime blockade on July 14, UANI has tracked at least 50 Iranian oil and petrochemical loadings, only eight of which originated from Kharg Island, Iran.

Iran-Linked Tankers Globally

UANI has also monitored Iran-flagged tankers operating beyond the Persian Gulf, particularly in the waters near Malaysia. At least 22 tankers listed on UANI's Ghost Armada were anchored or loitering north of the EOPL anchorage with their AIS signals active. These tankers most likely departed the anchorage due to the purported recent enforcement actions of the Malaysian maritime authorities. Meanwhile, about 21 tankers listed on UANI’s Ghost Armada remain loitering in the EOPL anchorage, demonstrating that Ghost Fleet tankers continue to operate with impunity across Southeast Asia's sea lanes.

Ghost Armada tankers near Malaysia on October 26 (Credit: Marine Traffic)

Iran-flagged tankers, empty after conducting STS transfers in the EOPL, are now loitering at anchorages across the Indo-Pacific rather than transiting back to Iranian ports because of the U.S. blockade. DIONA (IMO 9569695) is loitering offshore Duqm, Oman, while 20 empty Iran-flagged tankers are currently loitering off Sri Lanka. These tankers are DREAM II (IMO 9356593), STREAM (IMO 9569633), HALTI (IMO 9212890), SEA CLIFF (IMO 9569657), HERO II (IMO 9362073), SILVIA I (IMO 9172052), SNOW (IMO 9569619), HELM (IMO 9357391), DUNE (IMO 9569712), DEEP SEA (IMO 9218492), DIAMOND II (IMO 9218478), DINO 1 (IMO 9569671), SONIA I (IMO 9357365), DORE (IMO 9357717), HERBY (IMO 9362059), SEVIN (IMO 9357353), FELICITY (IMO 9183934), HENNA (IMO 9212929), AMBER (IMO 9357406), and HUGE (IMO 9357183). From August 23, most of these Iran-flagged tankers departed the Galle anchorage and started loitering within the vicinity of Sri Lanka, possibly driven by heightened regulatory or enforcement pressure following press coverage of UANI’s monitoring of Iran-flagged tankers in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Between October 23 and 26, at least six of these tankers transited back towards the Galle anchorage and then returned to the anchorages further north up the Sri Lankan coastline.

On October 24, Sri Lanka coordinated the evacuation of 40 Iranian seafarers from 19 commercial vessels operating in international waters off its coast following reported medical emergencies, according to the country’s foreign ministry. The seafarers were brought ashore at Galle Harbour, where they received medical treatment before being repatriated to Iran.

Empty Iran-flagged tankers near Sri Lanka on October 26 (Credit: Marine Traffic)

Iran-Flagged Cargo Ships Globally

Despite ongoing pressure of OFAC sanctions and new constraints of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, approximately 50 Iranian-flagged cargo ships continue to operate openly across sea lanes, ports, and anchorages throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean.

Iran-flagged cargo vessels across the region on October 26 (Credit: Marine Traffic)

In the Laccadive Sea, the Iranian-flagged container ship VELON 1 (IMO 9122473) continued sailing past Sri Lanka to the Malaysian EOPL, with an estimated arrival of November 4.

Meanwhile the Iranian-flagged container ship VIRA 1 (IMO 9088524) turned north toward Colombo, Sri Lanka, and sailed very near to the Iranian-flagged tankers that have been loitering there. VIRA 1, which has been using various MMSI numbers to broadcast multiple AIS identities and flags, is bound for Kandla, India, with an estimated arrival of October 31.

Iran-flagged cargo vessels near Sri Lanka on October 26 (Credit: Marine Traffic)

At the Malaysian EOPL, 20 Iranian-flagged cargo ships remained in or near the anchorage: 

ALOR 2 (IMO 9228538), AMINA (IMO 9305192), ANDIA (IMO 9193197), ARDAVAN (IMO 9465863), ARIES (IMO 9369722), AREZOO (IMO 9165786), ARTABAZ (IMO 9283007), ARTIN (IMO 9305221), ARZIN (IMO 9284142), BAHJAT (IMO 9405954), BARZIN (IMO 9820269), BEHDOKHT (IMO 9405978), DARYABAR (IMO 9369710), GANJ (IMO 9305219), GOLAFRUZ (IMO 9323833), KASHAN (IMO 9270696), PARISAN (IMO 9465851), PARNIA (IMO 9167265), RAYEN (IMO 9820245), and SHIBA (IMO 9270646).  Most of these vessels will likely remain in the EOPL while the U.S. blockade is still in force, receiving regular logistics support from Malaysian service providers, despite the risk of secondary sanctions from OFAC.

The container ship FLORA (IMO 9349576) departed north into the South China Sea, bound for Zhuhai, after 11 days in the EOPL and at Port Klang prior to that. FLORA's ETA in Zhuhai is on October 31.

In the anchorage near Malacca, Malaysia, the container ship SIM (IMO 9719862) recently re-flagged to the Iranian flag—confirmed by an update in the IMO GISIS database—and departed into the Malacca Strait, heading north, but with no destination listed.

 Iran-flagged cargo ships near the Malacca Strait and Malaysian EOPL on October 26

(Credit: Marine Traffic and ESA Copernicus)

At Zhuhai, the falsely flagged, OFAC-sanctioned TAVA 4 (IMO 9292151) arrived and entered the container terminal. TAVA 4 had previously visited Kandla, India, and is the 39th Iran-linked vessel to visit Zhuhai. Meanwhile, the container ships ARTENOS (IMO 9820245) and RADIN (IMO 9820257) remained in the Zhuhai anchorage. Zhuhai Port at Gaolan Island has previously been identified in media reports as a source of precursor chemicals for rocket fuel. 

Near Shanghai, the container ship ASYAN (IMO 9165803) remained anchored just outside Chinese territorial waters, and ABYAN (IMO 9349667) returned to the same area, likely after finishing storm evasion due to the recent typhoon.  SHABDIS (IMO 9349588) is still sailing in the Yellow Sea, but will likely return to the CJK anchorage as well.

In the Gulf of Suez, the Iranian-flagged container ship FLEXI 2 (IMO 9246322) completed its transit of the Suez Canal and approached the Red Sea. Its new destination is Mumbai, with an estimated arrival of November 7.

In the Mediterranean, the container ship BASHT (IMO 9346536) anchored off Benghazi. Its previous port visits were to Zhuhai and then Port Klang and Zhuhai, continuing a pattern of Iranian cargo ships connecting these ports. The general cargo ship ALVAN (IMO 9165798) anchored off Tenedos Island in Türkiye, near the entrance to the Turkish Straits. It will likely continue transiting the straits and head to a Russian Black Sea port. The container ship NYRA 2 (IMO 9241487)continued sailing west in the Mediterranean Sea, passing just south of Malta, and headed to St Petersburg, Russia, with an estimated arrival of November 8. The container ship ZARDIS (IMO 9349679) continued sailing along the Algerian coastline toward the Gibraltar Strait. ZARDIS is sailing to Bronka Port, Russia, near St. Petersburg, with an estimated arrival of November 3.

Iran-flagged cargo ships in the Mediterranean on October 26 (Credit: Marine Traffic)