A cargo ship sailing near the Persian Gulf [Reuters Yonhap News]

The U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations against Iran, announced on the 15th (local time) that two days after initiating blockade measures on Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, nine ships have returned to Iranian ports or coastlines.

The Central Command stated on X (formerly Twitter) that "during the 48 hours since the U.S. implemented a blockade on ships entering and leaving Iranian ports, not a single vessel has passed through U.S. military checkpoints."

The Central Command had previously reported that during the first 24 hours of the blockade, six Iranian merchant ships re-entered Iranian ports off the coast of Oman according to U.S. military instructions. This suggests that an additional three vessels departing from Iran have since turned back.

The U.S. military began its maritime blockade on ships departing from or arriving at Iranian ports and coastlines in the Strait of Hormuz at 10:00 AM Eastern Time on the 13th.

In a statement posted on X the previous night, U.S. Central Command Commander Brad Cooper said, "As the U.S. military maintains maritime superiority in the Middle East, the blockade on Iranian ports is being fully implemented. Approximately 90% of Iran's economy relies on international maritime trade. The U.S. military has completely cut off maritime economic trade to and from Iran in less than 36 hours since implementing the blockade measures."

While the U.S. military is maintaining the blockade on ships traveling to and from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, it appears that the passage of ships not related to Iran and that were stranded due to the conflict has not yet fully resumed.

Citing maritime data from the ship tracking firm Kpler, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 16th that more than 12 ships unrelated to Iran transited the strait over the two-day period of the 13th and 14th.

Previously, on the day before, U.S. officials stated that more than 20 neutral merchant ships with no connection to Iran had passed through the strait during the first 24 hours of the blockade, as reported by the NYT and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Before the conflict, the average number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz was approximately 130 per day.