Iran seizes second Gulf oil tanker in less than a week

Agencies | Dubai                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Sanctions-hit Iran seized yesterday a second oil tanker in less than a week as tensions rise in the commercially vital Gulf waters.

A fleet of high-speed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) craft surrounded the Greek-owned Niovi as it travelled empty from Dubai to Fujairah, another port in the UAE, the US military said.

The Panama-flagged vessel’s seizure in the Strait of Hormuz comes six days after a similar incident also in the Gulf, which lies between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula and carries at least a third of the world’s seaborne oil.

“A dozen IRGCN fast-attack craft swarmed the vessel in the middle of the strait,” said a statement from the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet. “The IRGCN subsequently forced the oil tanker to reverse course and head toward Iranian territorial waters off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran,” it said.

Iran seized the vessel “following an order from the judiciary”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website said. Around 30 people were aboard the ship, including a Greek skipper and crew members from the Philippines and Sri Lanka, a spokeswoman for Greece’s coastguard told AFP.

The Gulf has witnessed a spate of incidents since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. On Thursday, helicop - ter-borne Iranian navy commandos abseiled onto the deck of a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, the Advantage Sweet, in the Gulf of Oman. It was then moved to Bandar Abbas, TankerTrackers.com said.

The two seizures come after the US captured a Greek-managed tanker carrying Iranian oil, maritime security firm Ambrey said. The Niovi’s capture also followed a warning from Greek authorities of heightened risk after the US seizure, Ambrey added.

“Greek authorities had issued a warning that Greek shipping was at an increased risk from Iran after the detention of a Greek-managed Suezmax tanker carrying Iranian oil,” it said.