The Iranian Navy announced Thursday the capture of a “American gun” in the Sea of Omanjust hours after the British Navy reported the seizure of a vessel by “unauthorized armed persons” in those waters.
“The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the seizure of an American oil tanker in the waters of the Sea of Oman by court order,” the Iranian naval force said in a brief statement broadcast by the Tasnim agency.
Iranian authorities did not report the name of the ship or provide further details about it.
The brief announcement comes just hours after the British Navy reported that a vessel was boarded “by 4-5 unauthorized armed individuals at approximately 3.30 GMT” in an incident 50 miles northeast of Sohar, Oman.
The captured ship is the oil tanker “St Nikolas” which was sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands and belongs to the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.
According to the Greek state agency AMNA, the ship’s crew consists of a total of 19 people, one of Greek nationality and 18 of Philippine nationality.
The vessel in question – when it was still sailing under the name “Suez Rajan” – was embroiled in a year-long dispute in which the US Department of Justice ended up seizing a million barrels of Iranian crude oil it was carrying.
According to the AMNA, the vessel had loaded approximately 145,000 tons of oil in Basra, Iraq, and had as its final destination the city of Aliaga (Turkey), as it was chartered by the Turkish state oil company Tupras.
However, according to a statement released by British maritime security firm Ambrey Analytics, the vessel is now heading towards the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.