Mucahithan Avcioglu
08 May 2026•Update: 08 May 2026
Three empty cargo tankers belonging to the National Iranian Tanker Company have crossed through the US Navy blockade line over the past two days after returning toward Iran via Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers said Friday.
The three vessels have a combined crude-carrying capacity of 5 million barrels, the firm said.
TankerTrackers said two of the tankers were confirmed on satellite imagery, while a third vessel, the Hasna, appeared on automatic identificiation system (AIS) late Thursday off the coast of Shinas, Oman, some 254 nautical miles, or 470 kilometers, west of the blockade line.
The firm said visual confirmation of the Hasna was still pending, while the identities of the other two tankers seen on satellite imagery were shared with its clients.
The development came after US Central Command said Wednesday that US forces disabled the rudder of the Iranian-flagged M/T Hasna in the Gulf of Oman after its crew allegedly failed to comply with repeated warnings. CENTCOM said the tanker was unladen and was transiting international waters toward an Iranian port when it was intercepted.
“Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said, adding that the US blockade against ships attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports remains in effect.
Ship-tracking databases list Hasna as an Iranian-flagged crude oil tanker built in 2003, with a length of more than 333 meters. VesselFinder also lists the vessel under US sanctions.
The reported tanker movements underscore continued attempts by Iranian-linked vessels to navigate around the US maritime blockade, which has disrupted crude flows in and out of Iranian ports and intensified scrutiny of tanker activity around the Gulf of Oman, Pakistan’s EEZ and approaches to the Strait of Hormuz.
