Navy seizes fleeing oil tanker which hit Iranian vessel
Iran’s Navy has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman after the ship hit an Iranian vessel and tried to flee in violation of maritime regulations.
According to the public relations department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the foreign vessel collided with an Iranian fishing craft in the Persian Gulf late on Wednesday.
A number of crew members of the Iranian ship sustained injuries as a result of the impact, and two are still missing.
The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker then attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require the provision of medical treatment and the supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.
Recovering from the shock, the fishermen managed to issue a distress call.
Shortly after, the Iranian naval forces, which were deployed to Chabahar Port in southern Iran on a Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) mission, intercepted and seized the foreign ship in the Sea of Oman after having been contacted by the Maritime Surveillance and Rescue Center (MRCC).
The vessel was seized by Bayandor corvette of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in compliance with a confiscation order issued by Iranian judicial authorities.
The US Navy’s 5th Fleet identified the captured vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet, which issued a distress call during the incident.
The Navy statement made no mention of the tanker’s destination, but data from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon local time.
It had just come from Kuwait and its destination was listed as Houston, Texas.
Manifest information from data firm Refinitiv showed the Advantage Sweet carried Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California. Chevron said it was “aware of the situation.”
“We are in contact with the vessel operator with the hope of resolving this situation as soon as possible,” Chevron spokesperson Christine Dobbyn said in a statement.
The incident came as several American senators urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments amid an increase in Iran’s oil export despite illegal sanctions over its nuclear program.
Iran’s oil exports have reached their highest level since the reimposition of US sanctions in 2018, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said last month. He said that 83 million more oil barrels were exported in the last year than the previous year.