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U.S. forces moved aggressively on Wednesday, May 20, reporting they had briefly boarded an Iranian-flagged product tanker. The vessel was inspected and later released, but was also ordered to alter course.
CENTCOM is reporting that the tanker Celestial Sea (11,479 dwt) was suspected of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade. The vessel on its AIS was displaying Khor Fakkan in the UAE as its destination, but the U.S. suspected it was heading toward Iran.
U.S. Marines boarded the tanker from helicopters while it was in the Gulf of Oman. According to CENTCOM, the vessel was searched redicted before it was released.
The Celestial Sea is well-known as one of Iran's shadow fleet vessels. The United States sanctioned the tanker in April 2025 while it was operating under the name Harmony. The NGO UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran) reports it blacklisted the vessel in 2023.
The handysize tanker is reportedly managed out of the UAE and flying the Iranian flag since December 2025. Before that, Equasis lists it under a false flag from Aruba, and before that flagged in Barbados and the Cook Islands.
With this latest vessel, CENTCOM is saying it has now redirected 91 commercial ships while ensuring compliance with the blockade. The number increased by two from yesterday, and is up from 84 on May 18.
The U.S. Treasury, yesterday, also reported that it had added 19 more tankers to its sanction list.
Neither the Pentagon nor U.S. military commanders, however, have confirmed the reports that the U.S. seized a stateless tanker associated with Iran on May 19 in the Indian Ocean. The Wall Street Journal broke the story that the Skywave tanker had been interdicted west of the Malacca Strait. The vessel had escaped the Persian Gulf before the blockade, carrying Iranian crude. The vessel indicated it was offloading in China, but there was speculation that it made an at-sea ship-to-ship transfer.
Each of the efforts is part of the broader economic campaign by the Trump administration. It is seeking to cut off Iran's money flow to pressure a negotiated settlement.
Fuente: Maritime Executive
