This is a vessel that currently uses the name "Race" via its onboard tracking system, although according to available data, such a ship cannot exist under that name because a vessel with the same name was decommissioned in 2023. The last recorded position of this ship was near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
This practice of assuming the identity of decommissioned ships is one of the methods used to hinder maritime traffic monitoring, meaning that data from ship tracking systems cannot be fully trusted for identifying and tracking movements in this area.
BBC Verify also notes that numerous other cases have been observed where vessels turn off their transponders, interfere with signals, or intentionally "spoof" them to hide their actual location or create a false picture of movement.
Details on how the United States is enforcing a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports are still not entirely clear. BBC Verify also tracked the tanker "Alicia," which is under U.S. sanctions and sailed west through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf today.
This tanker, which according to available data is falsely registered under the flag of Curacao, does not publicly report its destination.