In an analysis from the beginning of this week, Lloyds said that Iran has established a new route that can be navigated through the Strait of Hormuz. It is not sailed along the main route south of the islet of Larak, but between Larak and the island of Keshm, where a very narrow and easily controlled road leads in Iranian territorial waters. A Pakistani ship has used this route before.
According to Lloyds data, Iran let over two dozen ships pass through the strait, 16 of them on the weekend alone, with twelve of them sailing between the islands of Larak and Keshm. The insurance company wrote that the road is called “Tehran’s toll gate” because it runs through Iran’s territorial waters and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps inspects all details of ships and in some cases collects tolls.
Thirteen of the 16 vessels that passed were heading east, three west. Among the ships that passed by were also two zombie tankers, i.e. vessels that used the identity of “dead ships”, officially non-functional or removed from the records.
Lloyds assumes that the increased use of this route is the result of diplomatic negotiations between Iran and other countries.
On Monday, two Indian ships, transporting over 92,600 tons of liquefied gas, passed through the Strait of Hormuz. In India, a shortage of LPG began to manifest itself, which is being addressed at a high political level, as Indians use gas for cooking. The government was therefore forced to negotiate with Tehran to clear the way for the ships.
Mines in the strait
Two American representatives confirmed to the CBS station that part of the strait is mined. It was already reported that the Iranians had loaded at least a dozen mines into the sea route. The new information is that they used Maham 3 and Maham 7 mines.
Maham 3 is an anchored sea mine that uses a magnetic anomaly detector and two passive acoustic sensors to detect vessels. It can hit a target three meters away.
Maham 7 is a mine lying on the bottom. Its advantage is that it can be placed from small ships or dropped from the air by parachute. In addition, its shape makes detection by sonar more difficult.
Even a small number of mines is a risk, and insurance companies have sharply increased insurance policies for ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. This led most shipowners not to send ships there.
