Maintenance in progress

iran's revolutionary guard declared that only iran-approved shipping routes through the strait of hormuz are legal, threatening any vessel using external designations set by oman and the international maritime organization. the un imo paused its escort operations after a cargo vessel — evergreen's ever lovely — was struck by an unknown object near oman on june 25. traffic had spiked to a three-month high of 73 vessels on june 24 then dropped sharply after the attack. this is structurally unusual because iran is asserting sovereign routing authority over an internationally recognized chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of global oil transits, and a un-coordinated escort mission has now been suspended in response to a live attack.

maritime tracking and international shipping sources, gulf region