A U.S. sailor mans an M240 machine gun mount aboard a guided-missile destroyer on Aug. 9, 2025. U.S. Central Command says it has established a pathway through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels seeking to safely transit the critical international corridor. (Cyrus Roson/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. military is helping oil tankers and other commercial ships safely transit the Strait of Hormuz through communications and coordination along a route established by Navy destroyers weeks ago, according to U.S. Central Command.
The goal is to give the vessels a way to continue moving through one of the world’s most important shipping lanes despite threats to maritime traffic following months of conflict between the United States and Iran.
“A pathway is available that we have established for commercial ships seeking to freely and safely transit the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told Stars and Stripes.
The support does not include military escorts. Rather, it consists of communications and coordination with commercial vessels using a route established through transits by two Navy destroyers in April and two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels in May, Hawkins said.
Their success demonstrated that the critical waterway was not, in fact, closed. Thousands of seafarers and hundreds of vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf since the war began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
A U.S. sailor stands watch at a weapon station aboard a destroyer on Aug. 9, 2025. U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said Navy destroyers and U.S. commercial vessels have already safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, demonstrating that the route is open. (Cyrus Roson/U.S. Navy)
Since then, Iran has asserted control over a portion of the strait and reportedly demanded that ships pay a toll and coordinate their movements with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, discouraging many vessels from attempting the transit.
Tehran has reinforced those claims by warning that it has mined parts of the waterway and by launching dozens of drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping.
As of May 17, there had been 29 serious, one minor and three attempted attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, according to the most recent weekly report by the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational information-sharing organization that monitors maritime security in the region.
The result has been a steep decline in ship traffic. About 61 ships transited the strait in the week ending May 17, according to JMIC data. Before the war, the waterway handled an average of 761 vessel transits per week, the data showed.
The latest U.S. effort has helped about 70 ships through the strait in recent weeks, the New York Times reported Sunday.
Many of the U.S.-coordinated transits were conducted with ships’ transponders turned off to reduce the risk of detection and attack, according to the report.
That effort follows the short-lived Project Freedom, a U.S. initiative launched in early May to support commercial shipping through the strait. The operation was suspended after just one day.
The Navy likely has mapped out a safe route through the strait using surface and underwater drones to hunt for mines, said Steven Wills, an analyst with the Center for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States.
The U.S. also could be providing “a kind of distant protection” for commercial ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, likely on or near the Omani side, using destroyers and attack aircraft and helicopters, he said.
On Monday, Iranian state media reported that Tehran had suspended talks with the U.S. aimed at ending the three-month war in protest of Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Iran also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that U.S. forces have quietly helped coordinate some commercial transits through the waterway.
Responding to that report, CENTCOM disputed suggestions that the effort marked a revival of Project Freedom, saying the military routinely communicates and coordinates with ships in the waterway but is not providing dedicated escorts.
One major question is the extent of any Iranian mining effort in the waterway. U.S. officials have declined to say how many mines may be in the Strait of Hormuz or discuss any effort to locate or clear them, citing operational security.
But House Armed Services Committee members were told during an April classified briefing that it could take as long as six months to fully clear the strait of an estimated 20 or more mines.
A Pentagon spokesman later acknowledged the disclosure but said the information was inaccurate.
Analysts have said that it doesn’t matter how many — if any — sea mines Iran has laid, noting that the perception alone that the waterway may be booby-trapped is enough to keep ships away.
A U.S. sailor scans the horizon with binoculars on Aug. 9, 2025. The Navy is assisting commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz with continued communication and coordination rather than direct escorts. (Cyrus Roson/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. military has revealed few details about how it is assisting and interacting with commercial vessels.
In recent weeks, the U.S. has conducted airstrikes on Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to lay sea mines in what it has called “self-defensive” measures to protect its forces.
It is not apparent that those measures are related to current efforts to assist commercial ships transiting the strait.
Iranian officials have decried the strikes, calling them a violation of a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire of nearly two months.
