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Iran seizes British oil tankers for 'violating international maritime rules' as tensions escalate in Gulf
The Stena Impero had been en route to Saudi Arabia but made an abrupt change of course and began moving towards the Iranian island of Qeshm, according to data relayed by maritime tracking services. The ship “went dark”, meaning its identification system was turned off, at 16:29 UK time and nothing has been heard from her or her 23 crew since. Northern Marine, a Clyde-based subsidiary of the ship's Swedish owner Stena AB, confirmed that a “hostile action” had preceded the vessel's change of course on Friday afternoon. They issued a statement saying it had been “approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters.” Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that they stopped the tanker at the request of the maritime authority in the Iranian province of Hormozgan on suspicion it has "violated international maritime law", but did not elaborate. There were also concerns about a second oil tanker, the British-operated, Liberian-flagged Mesdar, which turned sharply north towards Iran's coast, about 40 minutes after the Stena Impero's course shift. The tanker changed course again on Friday to head back into the Gulf, Refinitiv tracking data showed. Britain said the Mesdar and another tanker, the Stena Impero, had been seized by Iran, making the announcement after both suddenly took up a course towards the Iranian coast. But an Iranian news agency said the Mesdar had not been seized but had been issued a warning, while the Iranian military said it had captured the Stena Impero. Tracking data showed the Stena Impero was in the same area where a United Arab Emirates-based vessel was detained on Sunday and where a British vessel, the British Heritage, was blocked by Iranian forces earlier this month. A Cobra meeting was held between officials from the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence and other Government departments on Friday night to determine the UK's response. A Government source said the crews on board the two ships are “a range of nationalities” but no Britons are among the crews of either ship. Posted by: trailing wife 2019-07-20 |
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