April 28, 2015

Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel was traversing the Strait of Hormuz

A U.S. Navy destroyer was sent to the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian patrol boats seized a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship amid signs Tehran is stepping up harassment of commercial traffic in the gateway to the Persian Gulf, U.S. officials said.

The USS Farragut scrambled to aid the M/V Maersk Tigris after the crew sent out a call for help. Iranian patrol boats fired warning shots across the ship’s bow in the strait—a major oil shipping route between Oman and Iran—U.S. defense officials and the ship’s owner said.

The confrontation marked the second time in recent days that Iranian patrol boats have targeted a commercial ship in the region. That raised concerns for some American officials who suspect Iran was aiming on Tuesday to seize a U.S. ship and may have mistook the Tigris for an American vessel.

“They were going after a U.S. vessel,” said one U.S. official. “That is what they wanted.”

The confrontation came amid increased tensions in the Gulf region because of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing military operations against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. The U.S. military sent an aircraft carrier this month to keep watch on an Iranian flotilla that American officials suspected of carrying weapons bound for Tehran’s allies in Yemen. The Iranian ships turned around as the USS Theodore Roosevelt headed into the area, averting a potential showdown.

While the U.S. and Iran support opposing sides in Yemen, President Barack Obama is trying to seal a controversial deal with Tehran to constrain its nuclear program.

Last week, four Iranian patrol boats tried to contact a U.S.-flagged cargo ship in the Persian Gulf, officials said. When the Maersk Kensington ignored that radio call on April 24, the boats tried to encircle the 980-foot commercial vessel, they said.

The Iranian boats eventually sped away. But the encounter generated a warning on Sunday to commercial ships about increased threats from Iran in the region.

Pentagon officials criticized the Iranian seizure as the U.S. Navy sent surveillance aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz, where the confrontation took place.

”At first appearance, this does seem to be provocative behavior, but we don’t have all the facts yet,” said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency characterized the incident as a commercial dispute. Mohammed Saeidnejad, the managing director of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, said the Maersk ship was seized “based on a court ruling which ordered confiscating the foreign firm’s assets,” IRNA reported.

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by a private Iranian company, the report said.

A U.S. defense official dismissed the Iranian claim, adding there is little modern precedent for a navy to seize a commercial ship by force over unpaid debts. Officials with the shipping company wouldn’t speculate on the motive for the seizure, but said the vessel was in international waters when the encounter began.

Over the years, Iran has used the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for the oil rich region, to harass U.S. Navy ships and commercial vessels.

The latest incident began early Tuesday when patrol boats with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force ordered the Tigris to head toward Iran, U.S. officials said. The Iranians fired warning shots across the bow of the ship when the crew refused to follow their orders, according to the U.S. military and the ship’s owner. The crew issued a distress call on an open radio channel and diverted course to head toward Iran’s Larak Island, about 20 miles from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. There, the Iranians boarded the ship and took control.

The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet then sent the Farragut to the scene.

Cor Radings, a spokesman for Rickmers Shipmanagement, said the ship was chartered by Maersk to transport cargo. They lost contact with the 24 crew members on board the Tigris after the confrontation. None of the crew were Americans.

“There’s a lot of concern for the wellbeing of the crew,” he said. The ship was carrying containers and general cargo, Mr. Radings said.

“Anything from electronics to shoes and general cargo—nothing out of the ordinary,” he said.

This was the first time any Rickmers ship had encountered such difficulties in the Persian Gulf, he said.

About 30% of the world’s crude oil trade goes through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical energy-shipping chokepoint, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iran has threatened in the past to blockade the 21-mile-wide strait. But any such action would likely be met with a swift military response from the U.S. and other world powers.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-fires-w...ship-1430235393

It appears as if the Iranians boarded the ship and commandeered it to anchor at their port, Bandar Abbas.

Latest tracking shows it is back in the Oman Gulf.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/inde...MAERSK%20TIGRIS