Its name is Rich Starry. Owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping. Sanctioned by the US since 2023 for transporting Iranian oil. Chinese crew on board, carrying 250,000 barrels of methanol. And it just sailed through the Strait of Hormuz while the world’s most powerful navy watched.

The most revealing part was how it happened. On Monday, when the blockade began, Rich Starry tried to cross but turned back near Iran’s Qeshm Island. Everyone thought the blockade was working. But that night it tried again, sailed along the Iranian coast, and by early Tuesday it was in the Gulf of Oman. It passed. No escort. No interception. Not a single shot.

And it wasn’t alone. According to BBC Verify, at least 4 Iran-linked vessels and 3 US-sanctioned ships have crossed the strait since the blockade began. The Murlikishan, another sanctioned tanker that has carried Russian and Iranian crude, also entered the strait the same day.