Dubai: Iran's navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker with 24 Indian crew members in the Gulf of Oman heading to the US amid wider tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme, the latest-such capture in a waterway crucial for global energy supplies.
The Advantage Sweet was recognised as the ship by the US.Navy's 5th Fleet, which is stationed in the Middle East. The ship, according to MarineTraffic.com's satellite tracking information, was located in the Gulf of Oman, not far from Muscat, the capital of Oman. Houston was indicated as the destination and it had just arrived from Kuwait.
"Iran's actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability," the 5th Fleet said in a statement. “Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”
The Navy initially said Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the vessel, but an American naval aircraft later confirmed that Iran's navy captured the ship, 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins told the media.
The seizure occurred after an "unknown ship collided with an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf, leaving several Iranian crew members missing and suffering injuries," according to the state-run IRNA news agency of Iran. The other ship allegedly involved in the collision was not named.
The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf, but as it travelled through the Strait of Hormuz, where a quarter of all commercial oil passes, its track displayed no odd behaviour. In earlier seizures, Iran has made claims that eventually crumbled as it became evident Tehran was attempting to use the capture as a bargaining chip with other countries.
Iran's “harassing activity within the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman is commensurate with an established pattern of behavior that has seen Iran target vessels as a result of ongoing disputes," maritime security firm Dryad Global said.