Mumbai : The US vowed to choke the Strait of Hormuz after Iran refused to bend, but the results so far have exposed the limits of naval power in one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. The US Navy, deployed east of the Strait in the Gulf of Oman to monitor and restrict traffic entering or leaving the passage, has not been able to make the blockade airtight.
The tanker carried 97,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Ras Laffan in Qatar. Not just Desh Garima, over 30 other tankers have reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the US’s blockade began on April 13. There is chatter about multiple non-Indian ships that have headed from Iran to India, though there has been no confirmation or denial either from Tehran or New Delhi.
A speculated route was shared by Jim Bianco, president and macro strategist at the financial research and market analysis firm Bianco Research. He tweeted about the path Indian vessels could be following, along with a map. Days later, business influencer and podcast host Mario Nawfal also pointed out the same route. They both said ships could hug the territorial waters of Iran, and enter Pakistani waters before they sail past the blockade.
The first is the route highlighted by Bianco and Nawfal, which runs along Pakistan’s long Makran coastline. By following it, a ship can pass directly from Iranian territorial waters into Pakistani territorial waters without entering international waters. While the route is technically possible, as explored later in this article, the fact that it passes through Pakistani waters makes matters a little complicated for India.
Right now, the US’s blockade jurisdiction applies in international waters only, linked to the conflict with Iran. Navies cannot obstruct lawful commercial passage through an international strait so long as no illegal activity is involved. While there are at least two routes out of the Persian Gulf to India, one must wonder whether Indian vessels are even allowed in Pakistani territorial waters. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), every coastal nation controls 12 nautical miles (22 km) of territorial waters.
Foreign merchant ships enjoy the right of “innocent passage” through these waters. This means they can sail peacefully without stopping, trading, fishing, or posing any threat to the coastal state. As long as the vessel is simply transiting, the coastal country is generally not supposed to obstruct it. Defence expert and senior journalist Sandeep Unnithan, explained, “There is no problem for a Pakistani merchant ship to pass through Indian waters and likewise no restriction for Indian vessels to sail through Pakistani waters.
The US blockade primarily targets ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. Neutral vessels, including Indian-flagged tankers or ships carrying cargo bound for India, are not the intended focus and face limited direct threat from American forces. “However, risks remain from the Iranian side, which has shown willingness to fire on vessels and impose its own restrictions,” said the retired Navy officer, requesting anonymity.
Once a ship’s passage through the Strait is cleared — often through case-by-case negotiations by the Ministry of External Affairs — the Navy is likely to meet it at a pre-arranged rendezvous point in the Gulf of Oman, safely away from both US and Iranian operational zones. The officer emphasised that Indian Navy-escorted vessels would have “no need to hug the Pakistani coast or enter Pakistani territorial waters.
Notably, days after the deadly Pahalgam attack in April last year, and after New Delhi banned the import of goods originating in or transiting through Pakistan as well as the entry of Pakistani ships into its ports, Pakistan barred Indian-flagged carriers from using its ports. The reciprocal maritime bans between India and Pakistan remain in effect. They primarily target flagged vessels and port access, and do not automatically prohibit all commercial traffic, but create significant practical and political hurdles for Indian ships near or in Pakistani waters.
US Central Command has so far directed 28 vessels to turn back and has boarded or detained a few ships. President Donald Trump has described the blockade as a “tremendous success” that gives America control over the Strait. However, once a tanker enters any territorial waters, be it Iranian, Pakistani, or India, it moves outside the easy reach of US forces. The American Navy cannot enter these sovereign waters without permission.
The US says the blockade is hurting Iran’s oil revenue. Yet the flow of discounted crude shows that blockades in the modern era are hard to make airtight. A big loophole is that by using Iranian waters, a ship can move into international waters either by exiting near Chabahar Port or by hugging the Makran coast, entering Pakistani waters, and then sailing out into the Arabian Sea.
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