The NY Times has been told that the US HAS been coordinating the safe passage of NUMEROUS ships thru the Strait of Hormuz…
For those who actually follow this show back and forth between Donald Trump and Iran?
This is NOT really a surprise….
It HAS been reported here from open sources that ships HAVE been traveling thru the Strait ALL ALONG….
The number has not been revealed by the site ISW, but reports pointed to the fact that there ARE several ways thru that body of water That HAVE be used by ships…
Some pass thru one route closer to Iran….
Some pass thru the route mentioned in the NY Times piece , with assistance by the US military, that does NOT reportly escort the ships….
But provides ‘guidance’ thru communications and over watching….
That this IS in a NY Times piece probably is a way for Trump & Co. to try and ease the Gas/Oil prices situation, one would think…
It would also try to indicate that taking the Iranain route cost’s ….
The American route is free?
And of course this leaked to the media is an effort to show that Iran does NOT CONTROL the Strait…..
The piece points out that ships using the American route COULD get attacked by Iran….
Putting the ‘Secret’ in the NY Times might have Iran try to nullify the escape route NOT under their control…..
American forces in recent weeks have helped coordinate the passage of dozens of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials, even as travel through the waterway remains risky amid stalled negotiations to end the war with Iran.
U.S. Central Command has guided around 70 commercial ships through the strait, traveling into and out of the Persian Gulf, in the last three weeks, one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The U.S. officials added that most of the vessels had turned off their transponders to avoid detection when going through the narrow waterway.
The officials declined to say what type of vessels were going through and what route they took, but one official indicated that at least one route was not close to the Iranian coastline. Ships passing near Iran without obtaining Iranian approval face the threat of an almost-certain attack by Iranian drones or missiles, U.S. officials said. Shipping analysts say the U.S.-guided crossings appear to follow routes that are closer to Oman.
Before the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, well over 100 commercial ships a day passed through the strait. So the U.S.-coordinated passages — an average of three a day over the three-week period — do not represent a big comeback for shipping. And because U.S.-guided crossings take place with transponders turned off, known as “dark” passages, shipping analysts say they cannot independently verify how many may have taken place….
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The U.S.-coordinated route is also an alternative for shipowners who don’t want to have to get permission from Iran or pay a toll to make the crossing. The conflict with Iran has led to a sharp reduction in energy supplies to world markets….
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Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Central Command’s total of 70 U.S.-coordinated crossings was higher than she had expected. Because the crossings were done with transponders turned off, Ms. Raydan said it would take time to confirm how many vessels had coordinated with the United States.
“And I doubt names will be revealed, especially if some companies worry about a response from Iran in the future for coordinating with the U.S.,” she said in an email.
During Project Freedom, two ships flying the American maritime flag went through the strait….
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Of the 895 crossings of the strait from March 1 to May 19, just over half were done on the Iran route, according to Kpler, a maritime data company. Around 40 percent took an unknown or dark route….
image….ISW
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