U.S.-flagged Maersk ship exits Persian Gulf under U.S. military protection as 1,600 vessels remain stranded

A U.S.-flagged ship called the Alliance Fairfax, operated by a Maersk subsidiary, transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday under U.S. military protection. The transit comes more than two months into the Iran war that has left some 1,600 ships stranded with roughly 20,000 seafarers on board. President Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. would guide stranded ships out of the strait, with U.S. forces on Monday shooting down cruise missiles and drones and destroying six Iranian speedboats that threatened vessels the Navy was guiding through. Only 137 ships have transited the strait from April 13 through May 1 (when the U.S. began its blockade), compared to roughly 130 vessels per day before the war.