World News: U.S. Destroyer Chases Down Iranian Ship --- Cat-and-mouse moves try to keep Iran's shadow-fleet vessels bottled up

 

“The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Dorena slipped past a U.S. Navy cordon and was headed into the Indian Ocean when it switched off its location signal and went dark.

 

The ship, whose movements were tracked by shipping-intelligence firm Kpler, is one of hundreds of sanctions-evading ghost-fleet vessels playing a game of cat-and-mouse as the U.S. tries to lock down Iran's oil trade and pressure the country to agree to President Trump's peace deal.

 

This time, the U.S. came out on top. Early Thursday, the military said a Navy destroyer was escorting the Dorena off the west coast of India after foiling its attempt to escape and deliver its cargo.

 

Shipping-analytics firms say vessels continue to try their luck, testing the limits of a U.S. pressure campaign against the regime in Tehran, which includes a blockade and a separate effort to board shadow-fleet vessels. The shadow fleet's numbers are so large that the U.S. will have to give priority to which ones to take on.

 

"It will be very hard to go after all of them," said Emmanuel Belostrino, head of global crude and geopolitical market data for Kpler.

 

U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said it also intercepted two other Iranian-flagged ships -- the Hero II and the Hedy -- that tried to breach the blockade. On Thursday, the military said U.S. forces boarded a ship known as the Majestic X, which was carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.

 

Sometimes, as with the Dorena, it is a matter of whether a ship that gets through can keep going.

 

Since the imposition of the blockade, at least one vessel, a bulk carrier, left an Iranian port and exited the region, according to publicly available shipping data. Liberia-flagged Basel listed its port of origin as Iran's Bandar Imam Khomeini, and Thursday was on its way to Brazil.

 

"The Pentagon says they are trying to stop Iran from earning money, which is perfectly fine, but you can't really stop every ship from coming and going," said Yoruk Isik, a ship-tracking analyst and the head of the maritime consulting firm Bosphorus Observer. "The tankers continue to load, and a small number are making it out."

 

Central Command declined to comment about the Basel but rejected claims that ships are evading its forces. It said it has turned around nearly three dozen vessels as part of the blockade as of Thursday, and that U.S. forces are poised to intercept ships beyond the Mideast. "U.S. forces have totally shut down commerce entering and exiting Iranian ports, and Iran hates it," said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesman.

 

Instead of putting U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, where they are vulnerable to attack, Washington has set up a defensive zone, or "net," in the Gulf of Oman. Central Command said there are more than 17 warships and 100 aircraft in the region to enforce the blockade.

 

The military is operating under two sets of orders to shut down Iranian shipping. The first is the blockade, which covers ships coming to or from Iran's ports. The other allows the interdiction of ships that are providing materiel support to Iran, including ghost-fleet vessels and sanctioned ships.

 

In either case, U.S. forces can intercept targets anywhere in the world.

 

The shadow fleet aims to find ways around the dragnet. Its hundreds of vessels use methods such as spoofing their location signals and transferring oil at sea to misrepresent the origins of their cargoes. They also use unconventional registration, false flags, concealed ownership and frequently-changed names to avoid detection and escape sanctions.

 

The sheer size of Iran's shadow fleet poses a challenge to U.S. forces, which must give priority to which vessels to pursue. The Treasury put 440 ships under Iran-linked sanctions during President Trump's two terms, a U.S. official said.

 

One vessel, a chemical and oil-products tanker called Salute Legend, which has a history of trade in Iranian products, illustrates the challenges. It is the lone vessel in the fleet of a company called Powerful Super LTD registered in the British Virgin Islands. The owner couldn't be located for comment.

 

The vessel was in the Gulf of Oman and spoofing its signal from April 14 to 16, said Bridget Diakun, a Lloyd's List Intelligence analyst. The false signal was evident, because the ship broadcast the exact same coordinates for two days, which shipping experts say is unlikely under normal behavior.

 

On its previous trip, the Hong Kong-flagged ship delivered a cargo to China. It appeared to have loaded its cargo at sea in the Persian Gulf after previously reporting a port call in Saudi Arabia in January. Lloyd's List Intelligence satellite data shows it was never at that port.

 

Loading at sea is a potential loophole in the U.S. blockade, which only covers Iranian ports. Salute Legend left the Gulf of Oman on April 17 listing Singapore as its destination. Its last location signal showed it in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.

 

"The blockade, if it only applies to the actual ports, can't possibly encompass all of the supply chain of the oil, because naturally things are moving through ship-to-ship transfers," Diakun said.

 

Central Command declined to comment on the Salute Legend.

 

The U.S. has stopped a number of vessels linked to Iran in the Indian Ocean. When ships tried to flee U.S. forces near Venezuela earlier this year, American forces boarded the vessels in the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

 

Kpler noted several Iranian tankers currently near Singapore and heading toward China. Intercepting them, however, could be viewed as a threat to the country's energy security.” [1]

 

1. World News: U.S. Destroyer Chases Down Iranian Ship --- Cat-and-mouse moves try to keep Iran's shadow-fleet vessels bottled up. Malsin, Jared; Holliday, Shelby.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 24 Apr 2026: A8.