The container ship that ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz on 1 July is apparently the 2006-built 1,574 TEU Arista, which has been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control since July 2025 for being part of Iran’s dark fleet.
Equasis, a ship database created by the European Commission and French Maritime Commission shows that Arista, which was reportedly sold shortly after it was sanctioned, is flying the false flag of Comoros. The latter country has been the victim of flag fraud, with ship operators involved in nefarious trades often using the Comoros flag to ship cargoes from sanctioned countries.