Ship captain reveals what it's like to be stranded on Strait of Hormuz during Iran war Ship captain reveals what it's like to be stranded on Strait of Hormuz

Ship captain reveals what it's like to be stranded on Strait of Hormuz during Iran war

All 4 tankers mentioned are VLCC size, originally built for and previously operated by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). All are Iran flag & classed by Iranian Classification Society (ICS). They are part of a roaming fleet of tankers which speculatively sell cargoes & offload at sea by STS

World’s biggest cranes take shape at Hengli Heavy - Splash247 Construction has begun on three ultra-large gantry cranes at Hengli Heavy Industry’ super drydock on Changxing Island in Dalian, with the project set to shatter multiple world records and further ceme...

While some countries are talking about the importance of investing in shipbuilding as part of their economic and security resilience strategies, China is quietly getting on and doing it, eg Hengli Heavy at Dalian
splash247.com/worlds-bigge...

Suspicious $760M Oil Bet Preceded Iran's Hormuz Announcement Suspicious $760M Oil Bet Preceded Irans Hormuz Announcement U.S. CFTC investigates potential insider trading as similar bets preceded previous Iran-related announcements

Investigations are revealing some very fishy ‘goings on’, resulting in bonkers betting on oil futures. Iran remains silent and suffice it to say that the White House “strenuously denies” allegations of insider trading
www.chosun.com/english/mark...

US capture of Iranian cargo ship is escalation and retaliation, experts say Donald Trump says the Iranian-flagged ship ignored warnings from the US Navy, but Iran says the action is piracy and breaches the ceasefire terms.

Thank you Sal for adding substance to some decent reporting by some media outlets. You gave good answers to good questions posed this morning on the BBC World Service. Noted also that you’re quoted in the below report on ABC (Australian) news!
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Titanic life jacket sells for £670,000 at auction in Wiltshire It is the only life jacket from the Titanic to be sold at auction in 114 years.

A lifejacket used by a First Class passenger who survived the sinking of the ill-fated RMS TITANIC sells for more than three quarters of a MILLION dollars at auction earlier today
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Having offloaded the passengers at the start of the war (who had to go to their consulates to arrange their own flights home- unlike Mein Schiff or MSC who arranged flights for their guests), the absolute audacity of Celestyl Cruises doesn’t surprise me.

Iran shuts down Strait of Hormuz again, demanding end to US blockade Crucial waterway returns to its ‘previous state’, say Iran’s armed forces

It’s more like the Strait of Hokey-Cokey - “In, out, in, out, shake it all about,
You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around,
That’s what it’s all about.
Whoa-o the Strait of Hokey Cokey” (chorus) etc.

www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/iran...

Instantly recognisable as a P-MAX products tanker originally built for Stena - very wide beam & relatively shallow draught, constructed to Ice Class 1B standard & double skin throughout before this became mandated by IACS Common Structural Rules. 10 were built in Croatia. Good safety, built to last!

Interesting to see the latest additions to the list of oil tankers under US sanctions. Most are Panama flagged aframaxes classed by Korean or Lloyd’s Register of Shipping & managed by an Indian company called Fleet Tanqo. Quite the investigation by OFAC!

April 13, 2026: Iran War Maritime Intelligence Daily U.S. blockade begins in the Strait of Hormuz, transit remains constrained, Iranian exports continue, and dark vessel activity persists across Gulf ports.

Latest daily report on Gulf marine traffic from Windward
windward.ai/blog/april-1...

As the song goes, “Someone painted "April Fool" in big black letters on a "Dead End" sign,
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road & blew out my mind,
8 miles out of Memphis and I got no spare,
8 miles straight up downtown somewhere,
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in..

Happy birthday, Emma! Please switch off on your special day. Tomorrow is another day!!

2/ In blockading #Hormuz, the USA is specifically targeting China, India and other nations whose ships - many in the so-called “shadow” fleet - are currently “allowed” to navigate the Strait. In the meantime, the channels are being swept for mines. Piling on the pressure.

A genius move or a sign of desperation? The decision of the USA to impose a maritime blockade of the Strait of #Hormuz is already resulting in shockwaves in the shipping industry, trying to navigate its way through the Iranian impasse. Feeling sorry for the thousands of seafarers trapped in the Gulf

Not an easy job and not at all pleasant for those poor stokers and trimmers. For an insight of how to deal with a coal fire, please see the below link, specifically the section entitled “Fire Prevention and Firefighting”
hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/whats-on/sto...

But sadly no Wensleydale on the cheeseboard!

This is not unusual even for today’s passenger ship newbuildings which will often carry a riding squad from the shipyard to deal with “snagging” issues. Remember that TITANIC’s original sea trials programme was curtailed for various reasons with White Star Line pushing to get the ship into service

The Board of Trade subscribed to the same conclusion - the ships’ design incorporated various safety innovations and were regarded as ahead of their [Edwardian] time.

The acoustics created by the overall roof of Paddington are very good, as evidenced every Friday evening through the music of the Great Western Railway Paddington Station brass band!
www.paddingtonrailwayband.co.uk

4/ Finally (written more than I intended!), the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister acknowledged its partnership with the Sultanate of Oman in facilitating access through #Hormuz.

3/ The Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran stated that until all parties observed the agreed terms of the ceasefire (including Israel AND Hezbollah), then the Strait of #Hormuz was effectively closed and any ship transiting without prior agreement would be at risk of being destroyed.

2/ Earlier in the programme, Nils Haupt (Hapag-Lloyd Comms Director) was interviewed. He confirmed that they had several ships located in the “Persian” Gulf and that they had NO INTENTION of transiting #Hormuz due to the shipping channel being mined. “Seafarers lives matter more than money”.

1/ Just listened to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran interviewed on BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’. Regarding freedom of navigation through the Strait of #Hormuz, he asserted Iran’s sovereignty over its territorial waters and emphasised that UNCLOS did NOT apply.

Denmark is not on the current shortlist of countries which are permitted by Iran to transit #Hormuz. Maersk tested this with its chartered container ship QINGDAO STAR (see my earlier post) which ended up with a hole in its shell plating, forcing it back into the Arabian Gulf.

2/ And don’t think that there’s any greater mitigation of risk simply because your ship is named after a Chinese city!

Ceasefire changes little for shipping in strait of Hormuz, experts say Analysts expect only limited increase in shipping as vessels will still need to seek Iranian permission to transit

Latest Gulf casualty: container ship QINGDAO STAR (IMO 9318163, Marshall Is flag, Lloyd’s class, b2006, 39,906gt) hit by a projectile above the waterline, all crew safe.
A reminder that until further notice, Iran remains firmly in control of all navigation.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Just watched Richard Meade (Lloyd’s List Editor-in-Chief) live on CNN. Thankfully it was an intelligent interview- he was asked about the conditions for safe passage of ships through #Hormuz. What did Iran mean by “due consideration of technical limitations”? The answer according to Meade: “Money!”

You’re right to use the word “leviathan” - also adopted by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for one of his great shipbuilding projects on the Isle of Dogs. It’s amazing to think that this huge steamship produced less pollution than these modern day cruise ships! Such is progress www.rmg.co.uk/collections/...

Should’ve been left where it lay.