“Iran Seizes Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz: US Navy Reports”

The US Navy reports that the oil tanker Advantage Sweet from the Marshall Islands has been seized. Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com on Thursday afternoon showed the ship was in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital Muscat.

The oil tanker came from Kuwait and has Houston, Texas as its destination. The ship sent out a distress call when Iranian authorities took action.

– Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disrupt regional security and stability. Iran should therefore immediately release the oil tanker, says a statement from the US Navy.

Iran confirms that it has seized a ship. In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the Iranian authorities say that two crew members are missing and several injured after what they refer to as a collision with an unknown vessel in the Persian Gulf.

They further claim that the unknown vessel attempted to escape from the scene, but was brought back in by Iranian naval forces for violating international rules on assisting the injured at sea.

The waters where the ship was seized, near the Strait of Hormuz, are a narrow transit point for at least a third of the world’s oil transported by sea.

In July 2019, the naval forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized the British oil tanker Stena Impero in the same area for allegedly hitting a fishing boat. The oil tanker was returned after two months.