Second Iranian supertanker enters Indonesia’s Lombok Strait
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- A second Iranian supertanker has reportedly entered Indonesia’s Lombok Strait after evading US naval monitoring.
- Oil tracking data suggests most Iranian crude shipments launched in April have reached their destinations despite US interceptions.
A second Iranian Very Large Crude Carrier has reportedly entered Indonesia’s Lombok Strait after evading US naval interception, according to oil shipping monitoring firm TankerTrackers.com.
The firm said the supertanker DERYA is now navigating Indonesian waters toward the Riau Archipelago after an earlier attempt to deliver 1.88 million barrels of Iranian crude to India in mid-April was unsuccessful.
In a post on X, TankerTrackers.com said the vessel later changed course and continued south while several other Iranian-linked tankers in the region were redirected by US naval forces.
The firm said the vessel is now moving toward a planned rendezvous point in the Riau island chain.
The development comes one day after TankerTrackers.com reported that another Iranian supertanker, HUGE, carrying 1.9 million barrels of crude, had also entered the Lombok Strait after avoiding US monitoring efforts.
Read more: Iranian media highlights “digital chokepoint” in Strait of Hormuz cable map
Both cases suggest that some Iranian shipments continue to navigate alternate maritime routes despite heightened US naval activity aimed at disrupting Tehran’s oil exports.
According to the tracking firm, around 25 tankers departed Iranian ports carrying crude oil during April.
Of those, seven were reportedly redirected back to Iranian ports by the US Navy, while two were seized by US forces.
The remaining vessels either reached their intended destinations or successfully arrived at designated rendezvous points.
The latest tanker movements highlight the complexity of enforcing maritime restrictions across vast regional shipping lanes.
The Lombok Strait has become an increasingly important alternative route for vessels seeking to bypass tighter monitoring in more heavily patrolled waterways, underscoring the challenges facing efforts to restrict Iranian crude exports amid ongoing regional tensions.
