More Brave Cruise Ships Just Thumbed Their Noses at the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz

One of the problems with addressing Iran's misbehavior in the Strait of Hormuz has been laid bare in recent weeks: the cowardice of some in the world community to stand up for what's right, for countries to stand up even to protect their own economic interests and their own vessels.

There was a resolution from Bahrain trying to address the problem, but it was blocked in the United Nations. That was a particularly shameful vote when they couldn't stand up to a terrorist state and showed their ineffectiveness to the world.

Instead, you got a whole lot of talk about what they might do after the military action was over.

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer says the UK will lead a defensive military mission with France to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz pic.twitter.com/QUPKaywjou
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) April 17, 2026

Thanks for nothing.

The funny thing was that, as we reported, one cruise ship, the Celestyal Discovery, was braver than any of these quivering states that don't want to put anything on the line. The Discovery made it through the Strait on Friday, taking the southern route past Oman.

Iran’s Face-Saving Strait Spin Gets Upstaged by a Cruise Ship

Now, I have to tip my hat to four more brave cruise ships: the MSC Euribia, Mein Schiff 4, Mein Schiff 5, and the Celestyal Journey (the sister ship to the Discovery that had made the earlier run).

While Iran was saying that the Strait was open and then reneging on that on Saturday, those four cruise ships that had been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the start of the action made a break for it, at speed, hugging the coast of Oman and not going through the Iranian-approved route. They appeared to basically follow the route of the earlier cruise ship.

Earlier today, a convoy of 4 cruise ships ran the Strait of Hormuz at full speed, sailing under fire through the Iranian-declared minefield. pic.twitter.com/5fYSqEYcLr
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 19, 2026

From top right, clockwise: MSC Euribia, Mein Schiff 4, Mein Schiff 5, Celestyal Journey.

Images via @MarineTraffic pic.twitter.com/xosF25R6h7
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 19, 2026

That's real courage, and they just thumbed their noses at the ridiculous Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threats as they raced by. They didn't have passengers, but that would certainly be an unusual cruise to go on.

You can also see two of their automatic identification system (AIS) transponders going out, possibly to hide that they were going past.

One may have been fired upon; it wasn't clear.

UKMTO WARNING 039-26

Click here to view the full Warning⤵️ https://t.co/kokk53oQS5 #MaritimeSecurity #Marsec pic.twitter.com/YusvXzSJTh
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) April 18, 2026

That came after two other ships were fired on by Iran, further north, closer to Iran.

They all made it through.

MSC Cruises confirmed on Saturday that the MSC Euribia has departed Dubai, safely transited the strait and is now en route to Northern Europe.
The Celestyal Journey and TUI’s Mein Schiff 5 departed Doha, Qatar, while Mein Schiff 4 sailed from Abu Dhabi.
“The Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 have successfully passed the Strait of Hormuz. We would like to thank the captains and crews, as well as all those involved who supported and enabled the safe passage with great professionalism and prudence,” TUI said in a statement issued on Saturday.
All four ships followed the Omani coastline through the passage, with Muscat listed as the next port of call.
The Celestyal Journey briefly stopped several nautical miles off the port of Khor Fakkan before continuing.

But now, with multiple ships taking this route, either the five ships are all just very lucky, or the area they took doesn't have mines.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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