Iran says its forces seized a British-flagged tanker with 23 crew members aboard in the Strait of Hormuz
- Iran has seized UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media and the ship's operator.
- 23 crew members are aboard the vessel; the company has been unable to make contact with them since the vessel was seized.
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Iran's PressTV reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized control of the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday afternoon. The ship's owner, the Sweden-based Stena, and its operator, Northern Marine Management, released a statement about the incident.
"Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management can confirm that at approximately 1600 BST on 19th July UK registered vessel Stena Impero (built 2018, 49,683 DWT) was approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters," the release states. "We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran."
The company states that there are 23 crew members aboard the Stena Impero.
The tanker entered the Strait of Hormuz bound for Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia on Friday. The tanker drove straight out of the channel towards Iran's Qeshm island, according to Marinetraffic.com.
This is the second foreign vessel Iran has seized in the past week; on Thursday, it released footage of an IRGC boat crew circling the UAE-owned, Panama-flagged Riah tanker, which has been missing since Sunday. British Royal Marines seized an Iranian vessel, the UK said was smuggling fuel to Syria. Iran denies that the vessel was carrying fuel to Syria and has repeatedly demanded its release.
Here’s what we know:
— ClipperData (@ClipperData) July 19, 2019
LR1 Stena Impero, a UK-flagged tanker, left Houston laden with ethanol in May.
It discharged in India in early June and arrived Tuesday in Fajairah.
It left today signaling for Jubail, Saudi Arabia
At about 15:17 UTC, the vessel took an abrupt turn north pic.twitter.com/MU6Luj5PD6
A second ship, the British-owned oil tanker Mesdar, was bound for Saudi Arabia Friday when it sharply veered course north towards Iran, according to the ship tracking website. Neither Iran nor the ship's owners confirmed Friday whether it too had been seized, in what would be a major escalation by Iran.
The US-Iran standoff has targeted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, where over $1 billion of crude oil is shipped through daily. Oil prices have remained largely stable over the past month and are currently around $55 for a barrel, but began rising as news spread of Iran's seizure.
Commenting on broader tensions in the region, US President Donald Trump said Friday that US ships are "the most deadly ships ever conceived and we hope for [Iran's] sake they don't do anything foolish. If they do they're going to pay a price like nobody's ever paid a price."