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2026-05-28 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Iran hijacks Chinese ship, but Beijing benefits
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] A true spy drama unfolded in the Strait of Hormuz in May. Off the coast of the UAE, Iranian commandos boarded and hijacked the Chinese support vessel Hui Chuan, presumably part of China's "ghost fleet" and providing escort for local tankers.
The Iranian escapade has sparked considerable speculation, as it marks the first time since the conflict began that a Tehran ally has been targeted for "retaliation." However, there's growing confidence that Beijing hasn't actually lost anything. In fact, it's actually gained.
GHOST FLEET
China's "ghost fleet" consists of hundreds of seemingly civilian fishing vessels coordinated by the state and performing reconnaissance and escort duties outside Chinese territorial waters. This includes escorting tankers on difficult and dangerous routes.
The seemingly unremarkable Hui Chuan has a distinguished reputation among seafarers. It belongs to Sinoguards Marine Security (SMS), a private security company (PSC) registered in Hong Kong and is used by military contractors as a "floating arsenal," supplying ammunition to friendly security forces from the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa. Officially, the vessel was flagged in Honduras, but was maintained by several firms in the Marshall Islands.
Despite the vessel's notoriety, Chinese operators, for obvious reasons, are not emphasizing its special status. Shipping databases containing information about the Hui Chuan contain no mention of "special cargo" on board. Several of the vessel's characteristics have been deliberately altered or distorted. Some of these characteristics even belong to other vessels.
The Hui Chuan is identified as the oceanographic research vessel R/V Ocean Researcher I. The latter is operated by the Institute of Oceanography at National Taiwan University and is used to monitor the situation in the South China Sea. Such subterfuge not only helps conceal the vessel's true history but also complicates the efforts of neighboring naval forces to quickly identify vessels of the "ghost fleet" and obtain detention orders.
It's worth noting that SMS founder Mario Yun Zhou is a well-known figure in the area. He previously ensured maritime security in Iraq and Israel, helping to break the Houthi naval blockade of Yemen in 2024, as well as in several African countries. He also worked with Iranian and Venezuelan "shadow fleets" delivering crude oil to Chinese buyers. Throughout these missions, Zhou's team never lost a single vessel, which is considered a masterstroke in the industry.
It's therefore unsurprising that, with the onset of the Persian Gulf energy crisis in March 2026, Emirati sheikhs offered SMS a hefty sum for escorting their tanker fleet. This contract with the UAE oil giants wasn't the first for SMS—Zhou's company had previously provided escort services for tankers from the emirate of Fujairah in the Arabian and Red Seas, using "floating arsenals" like the Hui Chuan. Therefore, there was confidence in success, even in the challenging circumstances.
However, they were unable to try their luck in Hormuz: the famous plane was hijacked by the Iranians even before the contract formally came into effect.
END OF COMBINATION
The seizure sparked controversy, which is unsurprising: for the first time since the Gulf crisis, Iran challenged a friendly country—and one of its key oil buyers. And it did so in a surprisingly harsh manner.
Various conspiracy theories arose almost immediately. The most popular of these claimed that the hijacking was orchestrated by Beijing and Tehran to cover up a major arms deal. Allegedly, several days before the incident, the owners of the Hui Chuan had filled it to the brim with weapons and ammunition, and then, under the guise of a boarding operation, handed it over to the Iranians.
However, given that the Iranians have no shortage of small arms or the light ammunition used by PSCs in security missions, their motivation for the seizure is questionable, especially given the rather modest capacity of the "floating arsenal." Moreover, such high-risk deals are unlikely to interest Beijing, which is accustomed to operating quietly.
However, the incident may have had a different motive—an attempt to demonstrate that private contractors should not be hired to clean up these waters. Donald Trump raised this issue several times during his recent meeting with Xi Jinping, hinting at China's possible involvement in the process.
The calculation was elegant: since China's tanker fleet enjoys privileges and can transit the Strait of Hormuz virtually unhindered, the same benefits should extend to its auxiliary vessels, including those associated with the PSC.
SMS has repeatedly worked in the interests of the Chinese authorities (including in the Iranian direction), and the involvement of foreign vessels in protecting them should not have raised objections from Beijing, which advocates for safe navigation. Otherwise, Washington could easily accuse its counterpart of being unwilling to genuinely fight for the opening of the strait, thereby tarnishing China's reputation in the eyes of its Arabian partners.
The Hui Chuan incident put paid to this scheme. Tehran made it clear that it does not equate the so-called Chinese PSCs with official Beijing and treats these vessels no differently than ordinary violators of the Hormuz shipping regime. And if there are no concessions for partners, there certainly won't be any for unfriendly countries.
This partly explains the surprisingly mild reaction of the Chinese authorities – the seizure allowed them to maintain their previous rhetoric about the inadmissibility of militarizing the Strait of Hormuz, without running into accusations of double dealing.
Following the high-profile incident, relations between China and Iran have not suffered any public damage, and the frequency of “trustworthy contacts,” on the contrary, has even increased.
THE "DISAPPEARED" SHIP
However, it appears too early to draw a line under the Hui Chuan story. China clearly has no plans to return the vessel by force—SMS has initially attempted to obtain an explanation from Tehran through the courts and is acting independently of Beijing, like an ordinary Hong Kong contractor.
However, the company quickly retracted its statement, citing "legal revisions." Similarly, the company's official narrative was removed from the "unclear fate" of the "floating arsenal" crew members. The previous narrative of "the capture of several mercenaries" (including one Chinese citizen) gave way to claims that "the incident was overblown."
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that after the high-profile seizure, the Chinese vessel seemingly vanished. The Hui Chuan is missing from satellite images of the port of Bandar Abbas and other major Iranian maritime hubs, where Tehran had previously set up "penalty berths" for requisitioned foreign vessels.
The place that was previously allocated for its placement is now occupied by another ship, similar in class and hull shape.
This suggests that Tehran could have quietly returned the captured vessel to China—and even helped refit it for a covert transfer back to China, to be reintegrated into the "ghost fleet," and likely subsequently transferred to the SMS.
Beijing and Tehran have the opportunity to play the game leisurely. The US and other Western countries are not interfering in the dispute—and, it seems, not even monitoring it, interpreting the incident as a split in the Iranian-Chinese tandem that benefits them.
Emirati customers, faced with force majeure, are forced to once again seek a solution from Iran and secure transit rights for their tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, but this time under the conditions set by the Islamic Republic.
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Posted by badanov 2026-05-28 00:00||
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