OfficialShipping, energy & marketsGulf of Oman and Arabian Sea
CENTCOM says its blockade has turned back 24 ships, disabled two and boarded two
- Mountain Time
- Local time
- 3:22 PM in New York
- Where
- Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea
CENTCOM said it had redirected 24 commercial vessels since restarting the blockade of Iranian ports on July 14, up from 20 a day earlier, and had boarded two ships and fired on two others to disable them. Only five vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz the next day, all on Iran's approved northern route, according to marine traffic data cited by CNN.
Why it matters
Washington says the strait is open, but traffic stayed at a handful of ships a day against about 130 before the war.
Sources (2)
Confidence: Stated by a named government, military, or institution. Not independently confirmed. About confidence labels
Correction
- Corrected the time from 3:00 PM New York time, Jul 31, 2026 to 3:22 PM New York time, Jul 30, 2026; corrected the headline (it read "Blockade tally: 24 vessels turned back, two disabled, two boarded"); revised the summary; revised the context note; corrected the location from Gulf of Oman / Iranian coast to Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea; changed the confidence label from reported to official; reclassified it from market to shipping; updated the sourcing note; added 2 sources: CBS News, CNN; removed United Against Nuclear Iran as a source (an advocacy group's analysis whose figures could not be checked and are no longer used). Why and evidence
