Four Iranian tankers carry 7 million barrels through Hormuz

Four Iranian-flagged oil tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, marking the first such transit since mid-April and signaling a quiet increase in oil shipments from the Gulf despite an ongoing U.S. blockade. The vessels, identified as the Hilda I, Amber, Silvia 1, and Happiness I, were carrying a combined seven million barrels of crude oil loaded from Iran's main terminal on Kharg Island.

The ships crossed the strategic waterway with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off, a stealth tactic long used to circumvent international sanctions. According to maritime analytics firm Kpler, which relies on satellite imagery to track such movements, these tankers typically transport Iranian crude to an area off the coasts of Malaysia and Singapore for ship-to-ship transfers, with China as a frequent final destination.

This movement comes more than four months into a conflict that has severely restricted traffic through the strait, a chokepoint for global oil supplies. The United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in April in response to Iranian actions, stranding vast quantities of oil within the Gulf. While official traffic remains a fraction...