The situation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) remains highly dynamic. The US naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal waters remains active. On 6 May 2026, another Iranian ship was shot unmanoeuvrable by the Americans as part of the naval blockade. The region therefore remains highly volatile.<\/p>\n
A ceasefire has also been in place between Israel and Lebanon since 17 April 2026. However, this has been repeatedly broken by both sides. The USA has announced a \u201eMaritime Freedom Construct\u201c to coordinate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. In addition to diplomatic efforts, this also includes the operation \u201eProject Freedom\u201c. This escort operation was suspended again after less than 36 hours. However, two ships had already been escorted through the SoH, and the American warships had to fend off several attacks from Iran with missiles, drones and speedboats.<\/p>\n
The minehunting boat \u201eFulda\u201c is moving to the Mediterranean for a possible deployment in the SoH. In addition, the tender \u201eMosel\u201c is transferring from the \u201eAegean\u201c support mission to the NATO mine countermeasures group SNMCMG2 in order to also be available for a possible deployment. Germany wants to join a mission with other multinational partners to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. This is only possible if combat operations have effectively ceased, there is a mandate from the Bundestag and the operation is integrated into an international legal framework.<\/p>\n
Iran has also introduced a new initiative for transit through the SoH. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) would send emails to relevant ships and shipping companies to explain the rules for a possible transit. It is not yet known what these will look like. A danger from mines - imaginary or real - in the area of the Strait of Hormuz still cannot be ruled out. Interference from AIS and GPS is still present, but significantly reduced compared to March. The interference is irregular and localised.<\/p>\n
Location<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Since the start of the war, a total of 33 merchant ships have been attacked in the Persian Gulf, some of which have suffered severe damage. Since the last situation on 30.04.2026, 4 ships have been attacked. This was followed on 4 May 2026 by a new transit ban for an area not yet more precisely defined by Iran, in which ships are only allowed to stay with prior permission.<\/p>\n A ship was hijacked off the Yemeni coast on 2 May 2026 and taken to Somali coastal waters. This means that three merchant ships and one dhow are still under the control of Somali pirates. This dhow poses the greatest threat to other shipping, as it could be used as a mother ship for further attacks. The warning level for the Somali coast and the Somali Basin remains at: SEVERE<\/p>\n Harbours:<\/strong><\/p>\n On 4 May 2026, an Iranian attack caused a fire in the port of Fujairah\/UAE<\/strong>. The terminals in Jabal Ali, Hamriya, Sharjah, Khalifa, Abu Dhabi and Ruwais are operational.<\/p>\n Kuwaiti<\/strong> Ports are fully operational; there are no official reports of interruptions to operations. However, the Coast Guard has suspended the issuance of entry authorisations for foreign ships coming from Iraqi ports until further notice. For the ports of Shuaiba and Shuwaikh, the security level ISPS Level 2 applies. The airspace was partially reopened on 26\/04\/2026.<\/p>\n All Omani<\/strong> Ports are fully operational, although ships must officially confirm that no dangerous goods are loaded before entering; otherwise a detailed declaration and authorisation from the Ministry must be awaited. A fully operational Doppler log is mandatory for the port of Mina Al Fahal due to ongoing GPS disruptions; vessels without this system will not be authorised to moor. ISPS level 2 applies in the Qalhat LNG terminals and in the port of Salala, while level 1 now applies in Mina Al Fahal as in all other ports. The airspace remains open, even though individual international flight connections have been cancelled.<\/p>\n All harbours Saudi Arabia<\/strong> are operating at full capacity without restrictions or warnings. Emirates is not currently flying to Dammam again, but other airlines (e.g. FlyDubai, Qatar Airways) serve this airport.<\/p>\n Shipping traffic in Bahrain<\/strong> was resumed, but operations remain restricted due to the current situation; BAPCO activities in particular are still suspended.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Transport of Qatar<\/strong> has announced that there will no longer be any restrictions on maritime traffic from midnight on 2 May 2026. Nevertheless, ships should ensure that all safety equipment is complete and functioning.<\/p>\n According to AIS data and after consultation with shipping companies, approximately 117 ships with a German connection<\/strong> in the area, including 47 ships in the Persian Gulf. So far, 3 ships with a German connection have been attacked. The current situation for shipping in the Persian Gulf and neighbouring waters continues to be characterised by a massive threat. There is currently no official ceasefire. Negotiations between the USA and Iran are currently underway, but there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached in the near future. The US Navy's naval blockade is still active. Iran has just extended the no-transit zone (through the Red Lines) this week. It is also assumed that Iran still has sufficient missiles and drones, especially for attacks in the Persian Gulf. In addition, the IRGC clearly expressed its capabilities and willingness to launch attacks last week. The threat to ships remains.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n The risk situation for ships and crews remains complex. Operationally, the situation remains critical due to the entrenched blockades and the attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. The risk potential for the Persian Gulf and neighbouring regions must continue to be classified as: CRITICAL!<\/p>\n Source \/ Text \/ Illustration: GERMAN NAVY SHIPPING CENTRE, Department of Naval Shipping Management<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Strait of Hormuz: The situation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remains highly dynamic. The US naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal waters remains active. On 6 May 2026, another Iranian ship was shot unmanoeuvrable by the Americans as part of the naval blockade. The region therefore remains highly volatile.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"3high","footnotes":""},"categories":[486,42,48,50],"tags":[12818,12817,12819,12501,647,634,1023,237,12453,1095,421,12816,1168,165,12499],"class_list":["post-54888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-news","category-schifffahrt-news","category-sicherheitspolitik-news","tag-ais-stoerungen","tag-eskortoperation","tag-gefaehrdungslage","tag-gps-stoerungen","tag-hafen","tag-handelsschiffe","tag-iran","tag-maritime-sicherheit","tag-minengefahr","tag-persischer-golf","tag-schifffahrt","tag-seeblockade","tag-strasse-von-hormus","tag-usa","tag-waffenruhe"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54888"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54914,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54888\/revisions\/54914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}