The Iranian Navy announced the capture of an “American tanker” in the Sea of Oman this Thursday, hours after the British Navy condemned the seizure of the vessel by “unauthorized armed persons” in those waters.
“The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the seizure of a US oil tanker in the waters of the Sea of Oman by court order,” the Iranian Navy reported in a brief statement broadcast by Tasnim Agency.
Iranian authorities have not released the ship’s name or provided further details.
The brief announcement comes hours after the British Navy reported that the ship was boarded “by 4-5 unauthorized armed individuals at approximately 3.30 GMT” in the incident 50 miles northeast of Sohar, Oman.
The captured vessel is the oil tanker “St Nicholas” sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands and belonging to the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.
According to Greek state agency AMNA, there are a total of 19 people on board, including one of Greek nationality and 18 of Filipino nationality.
The ship in question – while still sailing under the name “Suez Rajan” – was involved in a year-long dispute in which the US Department of Justice seized one million barrels of Iranian crude oil.
According to AMNA, the ship loaded about 145,000 tons of oil in Basra, Iraq and its final destination was the city of Aliaga (Turkey), as it was chartered by Turkish state oil company Tupras.
However, the vessel is now on its way to the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask, according to a statement issued by British maritime security company Ambre Analytics.
EFE
