Shipping data recorded on April 14 showed that a third Iran-linked tanker was transiting the Strait of Hormuz on the first full day of the US blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports. US President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to yield an agreement.

As the three vessels crossing the strait were not bound for Iranian ports, they are not covered by the blockade. According to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data, the Panama-flagged medium-range tanker Peace Gulf is heading to Hamriyah Port in the United Arab Emirates. Kpler (a leading data, analytics, and intelligence company) data reported that the vessel typically transports Iranian naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, to other non-Iranian Middle Eastern ports for onward export to Asia.

Before this, two US-sanctioned tankers also conducted transits through the waterway. The handy tanker Murlikishan, formerly known as MKA, is en route to Iraq to load fuel oil on April 16. The vessel has previously carried Russian and Iranian oil. Another sanctioned tanker, Rich Starry, became the first to exit the Gulf since the blockade began, according to LSEG and Kpler data.

Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, loaded at Hamriyah Port in the UAE. The vessel and its owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co. Ltd., are under US sanctions for Iran-related trade. The company could not be immediately reached for comment. The tanker is Chinese-owned and crewed by Chinese nationals.

On the diplomatic front, China’s foreign ministry criticized the US blockade of Iranian ports, describing it as “dangerous and irresponsible” and warning that it would further escalate regional tensions. The ministry did not confirm whether Chinese vessels were currently transiting the strait.