Iran Seizes Tanker Ship In Oman Bay, US Navy: Maritime Security And Global Economy Threat

Advantage Sweet tanker. (Source: Marine Traffic/Ria Maat)

JAKARTA - Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the international waters of Teluk Oman on Thursday, the United States Navy, the latest in a series of seizures and attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019.

Iranian state television IRIB News reported on its Telegram channel that the Iranian navy had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, but gave no further details.

The US Navy identified the ship as Advantage Sweet, which, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, is a crude oil tanker Suezmax that has been chartered by oil company Chevron and last docked in Kuwait.

The manager is registered as Genel Denizcilik Nakliyati AS, a Turkish-based company that did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Iran's continuous abuse of ships and interference with navigational rights in regional waters poses a threat to maritime security and the global economy," the US Navy said, adding Iran in the past two years had illegally confiscated at least five commercial vessels in the Middle East. April 27.

The 270-meter-long ship was on its way to Houston, Texas, when intercepted, according to the MarineTraffic tracking site. The ship left Mina Saud Harbor south of Kuwait on Tuesday, citing The National News.

Separately, Iranian soldiers said in a statement to the Tasnim News Agency that a ship had been seized after two people were killed and others injured in an "accident between an unidentified ship and an Iranian ship."

The US Navy, whose Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) to immediately release the tanker. The ship issued an emergency call during the seizure, a US Navy statement said.

Meanwhile, maritime security company Ambrey said the tanker was boarded by helicopter and confiscated by IRGCN off the Bandar-e Jask coast in Iran.

According to the International Maritime Organization delivery database, Advantage Sweet is owned by a Chinese-listed company called SPDBFL No One Hundred & Eighty-Seven (Tianjin) Ship Leasing Co Ltd.

A series of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters have occurred since 2019, at a time of tension between the United States and Iran.

Iran last November released two Greek-flagged tankers seized in the Gulf in May in response to oil confiscation by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the coast of Greece.

It is known that nearly a fifth of world oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman that Advantage Sweet has passed, according to ship tracking data.