Iran has seized a foreign oil tanker for the second time in a week. A fleet of high-speed boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGCN) Navy captured the Panamanian-flagged Greek “Niovi” in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the US military said.
The tanker was on its way from Dubai to Fujairah, another port in the United Arab Emirates, without cargo.
“A dozen IRGCN fast attack craft swarmed the ship in the middle of the strait,” said a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. The Revolutionary Guards then forced the tanker to change course and drive into Iranian territorial waters, it said.
Iran’s judicial website Misan said Iran seized the ship “by order of the judiciary.”
30 people on the arrested ship
The US demanded the immediate release of the ship. “Iran’s harassment of ships and interference with freedom of navigation in regional and international waters” violates international law and disrupts stability and security in the region, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
A spokeswoman for the Greek Coast Guard told AFP news agency that there were about 30 people on the ship, including a Greek captain and crew members from the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Similar incidents have occurred in the region since 2018. On Thursday, Iranian naval units lowered themselves from helicopters onto the deck of a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker. The ship was taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, according to website Tankertrackers.com.
Maritime security firm Ambrey said the seizure of the two ships followed the US capture of a Greek tanker carrying Iranian oil. In the past, Iran has retaliated against seizures of Iranian oil supplies. The US sanctions against Iran are primarily aimed at the country’s oil sales. (AFP)
