From space
The Strait of Hormuz, latest pass.
A daily true-color view of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz from NASA MODIS Terra, the morning equatorial pass. Resolution is roughly 250 metres per pixel, enough to read weather, dust storms, water clarity, and coastline, not enough to see individual vessels. For vessel-level tracking see the AIS manifest.
Captured June 29, 2026 · MODIS Terra
Regional view
22°–30°N · 50°–62°E
The Strait sits at centre, between the Iranian Hormozgan coast and the Omani Musandam peninsula. The wide Persian Gulf opens to the northwest; the Gulf of Oman extends to the southeast into the Arabian Sea.
Chokepoint detail
25°–28°N · 54°–58°E
A tighter frame on the chokepoint itself: the Strait narrows to roughly 21 nautical miles between the Omani Musandam peninsula and Bandar Abbas on the Iranian side. The shallow water around the Tunbs and Abu Musa islands is visible mid-frame.
MODIS Terra captures one orbital pass over the equatorial Middle East per day, generally between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC. The image you’re looking at was acquired during that window on June 29, 2026.
MODIS pixels are 250 m on a side in the bands NASA composites into the True Color product, so a 300 m VLCC tanker covers a little over one pixel. Practically: the chokepoint geometry, weather systems, and dust plumes are easy to read. Individual ships are not. For vessel- level positions, the AIS manifest is the right view.
Imagery courtesy of NASA Worldview / EOSDIS / GIBS. Snapshot URLs are public and served from NASA’s CDN directly; Straits does not re-host or modify the imagery.