Strait of Hormuz: latest updates

Status: active since 14 July 2026, last confirmed 25 September 2026. Source: Wikipedia: 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran.

US Central Command began blockading ships going to or from Iranian ports at 10:00 EDT on 13 April 2026, after talks in Islamabad ended without agreement. It lifted the blockade on 18 June under the Islamabad Memorandum, then reimposed it after the ceasefire collapsed on 8 July: President Trump announced the move on 13 July and it took effect at 20:00 GMT on 14 July (Wikipedia, accessed 29 Sep 2026).

CENTCOM said that as of 25 September it had redirected 122 commercial vessels under the blockade, up from 115 two days earlier (CBS News, 25 Sep 2026). The blockade applies to traffic to and from Iranian ports. Separately, the US coordinates transits for other shipping through a southern corridor in Omani waters, and many ships cross with AIS switched off: on 27 September Windward counted 24 transits, 14 of them dark and 11 through the southern corridor (Windward, data as of 28 Sep 2026).

Iran set up the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) on 5 May 2026 to issue transit permits and collect fees for passage through the strait (Wikipedia, accessed 29 Sep 2026); Windward reports it began operating in mid-May (Windward, 17 Sep 2026). The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warned on 1 May that paying Iran for passage carries sanctions risk (Skuld, 1 Jun 2026) and designated the PGSA on 27 May (OFAC, 27 May 2026).

The PGSA publishes blacklists of ships that used the US-coordinated southern corridor or crossed without paying. Tranches released on 24 August, 2 September and 14 September took the list to 77 ships, 85% of them tankers (Windward, 17 Sep 2026). It reached 81 on 28 September, after three VLCCs linked to Saudi and South Korean operators and one bulk carrier were added (Windward, 28 Sep 2026).

On 22 September a committee of Iran's parliament approved articles of a Strait of Hormuz bill that would allow seizure of 20% of the cargo, or its value, of ships that break Iran's transit rules. The bill is at committee stage: it still needs a full parliamentary vote and Guardian Council approval (Iran International, 22 Sep 2026; IRNA via GlobalSecurity, 23 Sep 2026).

Threat level

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), whose advisory notes are published through UKMTO, rates the regional threat level SEVERE as of 27 September 2026 (JMIC Advisory Update 100 (UKMTO)). JMIC raised the level to CRITICAL on 1 March 2026 (Argus, 2 Mar 2026), lowered it to SEVERE on 7 June (Skuld, 9 Jun 2026) and to MODERATE in its "Strait of Hormuz Open" advisory of 18 June (JMIC 009-26, 18 Jun 2026), then raised it back to SEVERE in early July after new attacks (SAFETY4SEA, 8 Jul 2026).

Ship attacks

Attacks on shipping: 83 confirmed incidents and 23 seafarer deaths (IMO), as of 23 September 2026. Source: IMO via gCaptain. The bulk carrier Cape Dao was hit off Oman's Musandam Peninsula on 23 September and one Indian seafarer was killed; no one has claimed the attack. On 21 September LR Stephanie was hit by a projectile and two seafarers were injured (gCaptain, 23 Sep 2026). On 14 September an Iranian cruise missile struck a vessel carrying US Marines, and eight suffered minor injuries (NBC News via gCaptain, 28 Sep 2026).

Mines

US officials said on 25 August 2026 that the Navy had cleared mines from the traffic separation scheme, after underwater drones identified more than 100 suspected mines over the preceding months (Wikipedia, accessed 29 Sep 2026). On 19 September CENTCOM said the primary transit lanes had been cleared of mines (Fortune, 19 Sep 2026). JMIC's update of 1 September still warned of a risk from drifting or uncharted mines (JMIC Update 092, 1 Sep 2026).

War-risk insurance

In July 2026 the broker Marsh said war-risk premiums for Gulf transits were 3–10% of a ship's hull value, against about 0.25% before the war: $3–10 million for a $100 million tanker instead of about $250,000 (The National, 17 Jul 2026).

hormuz.now does not give navigation or security advice. Ship operators should follow UKMTO, JMIC, MARAD and flag-state guidance (see the official sources below).

There is no agreed date for reopening. On 24–25 September Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, outlined a seven-day plan at the UN in New York: the US would lift its blockade, waive oil sanctions and release frozen funds, and the strait would reopen with talks starting within seven days (PBS NewsHour, 26 Sep 2026). President Trump rejected it on 26 September, saying it "would not be acceptable" (NPR, 26 Sep 2026). Qatar held separate talks with both sides in New York on 28–29 September, and Iran said it expected a US reply to an amended version of its proposal (IRNA via GlobalSecurity, 29 Sep 2026; GlobalSecurity daily summary, 29 Sep 2026).

Earlier attempts did not last. A two-week ceasefire mediated by Pakistan took effect on 8 April, and the Islamabad Memorandum, signed on 17 June with a 60-day negotiation window, brought a partial reopening before the ceasefire collapsed on 8 July (Wikipedia, accessed 29 Sep 2026). Key dates of the crisis.

Our headline status is computed from the AIS-visible traffic we count plus dated, sourced context such as the official threat level. Unless an editor overrides it with a cited reason, it reads Open only when the 7-day average reaches 60 commercial crossings a day in IMF PortWatch terms, the JMIC threat level is MODERATE or lower, and no closure is declared. How we decide the status.