Tracking data debunks Iranian claim of foreign ship grounded in Strait of Hormuz

On Wednesday, Iranian state television claimed that a foreign container ship had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring instructions from the country's Revolutionary Guard. However, marine tracking data has debunked the claim, identifying the grounded vessel as the Arista, an Iran-linked, sanctioned ship that has been stranded in the area since March.

The broadcast on Iranian state television featured on-screen alerts stating that the vessel got stuck because it chose a route other than the one designated under Iranian orders. A state television news anchor warned that entering or exiting routes outside the Revolutionary Guard's "Route of Authority" in the Persian Gulf could lead to "irreparable incidents." The broadcast included images of the grounded vessel but blurred its name and registration number.

Despite the claims of a recent grounding of a foreign vessel, marine tracking data from TankerTrackers.com showed that the Arista has remained stranded north of Hormuz Island in Iranian territorial waters since mid-March. The vessel was travelling between Hormuz and Asaluyeh when it became stranded. Footage from an Armenian news outlet also matched the ship in the state television broadcast using its unique container colours and paint scheme.

The Arista was previously known as the Panama-flagged Gauja. On July 30, the United States Treasury linked the Gauja to an oil smuggling network allegedly run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of the late Iranian security adviser Ali Shamkhani. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Shamkhani family used a shipping empire to generate tens of billions of dollars in profit for Iran's ruling elite and fund the regime's activities.

Following the imposition of US sanctions last year, the vessel was renamed Arista and began operating under what shipping data identifies as a false Comoros flag.

Iranian authorities and the country’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the status of the vessel.