The Tribune, citing CENTCOM, says US forces had redirected 103 commercial vessels as of 15 September. Al Jazeera quotes Captain Tim Hawkins that more than 100 ships trying to break the blockade were turned and that more than 900 million barrels of crude have moved since early May.
The Tribune, citing ANI from Florida on 16 September 2026, says US Central Command stated on Tuesday that its forces have redirected 103 commercial vessels as of 15 September under the Iran blockade, including a CENTCOM clip of USS Rafael Peralta. ANI quotes CENTCOM that the 103 redirections enforce trade restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. The command posted an MH-60 Sea Hawk lifting off from USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) in the Arabian Sea.[2]
Speaking to Al Jazeera English on Wednesday, US Central Command spokesman US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to flow and rejected the suggestion that Iran controls the waterway. Hawkins said that since early May US forces had assisted commercial vessels moving more than 900 million barrels of crude oil to the global energy market, that more than 100 ships trying to violate the blockade had been redirected, and that mines had been cleared from international waters.[1]
The Tribune's 103-ship figure as of 15 September sits inside Al Jazeera's "more than 100" redirected ships. Hawkins is arguing the strait is not closed; CENTCOM's own count is still a blockade enforcement tally, not a claim that traffic is back to a peacetime baseline. Al Jazeera does not give Iran's ship-by-ship reply, and neither does The Tribune.[2], [1]
