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A third Turkish-owned ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Türkiye’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Monday, as limited maritime traffic continues through the strategic waterway.
“The Turkish-owned vessel ‘Ocean Thunder,’ which was en route carrying crude oil loaded from Iraq to Malaysia, safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz last night,” Uraloglu said in a post on the U.S. social media company X.
“With this passage, three ships that had been waiting in the Gulf since the beginning of the war have safely departed the strait,” he said.
According to global ship tracking intelligence Marine Traffic, the vessel departed from the port of Basra in Iraq.
“The number of Turkish-owned ships around the Strait of Hormuz has decreased to 12, and the number of ships requesting departure has decreased to eight,” Uraloglu added.
He also said efforts were underway to ensure the safe transfer of the eight ships that wish to depart from the region and the 156 personnel serving on these vessels.
This is the third vessel that has safely departed the strait after two ships exited over the weekend.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key global waterway, since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, triggering the Middle East conflict and sending global oil and gas prices higher.
Hostilities in the region have escalated since the United States and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people to date, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets. Iran has also restricted the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has allowed only limited traffic through the waterway since the war began on Feb. 28, disrupting the flow of roughly 20% of global oil and gas.
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