The owner of a small product tanker claims its crew of 12 have been jailed in Iran after the vessel was seized by a powerful branch of the country’s military.
Ahmad Al Sharif told TradeWinds that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded the 1,761-dwt Betelgeuse (built 1987) while it was in the Middle East Gulf and redirected it to the Iranian port of Bushehr.
He said he learned from crew that the Revolutionary Guards fired warning shots to stop the tanker. They boarded it, then ordered the crew at gunpoint to turn off its location transponder and sail to Iran.
The Indian crew members were then removed from the ship and sent to jail, he added.
“I don’t know what’s next,” Al Sharif said by phone.
Maritime security firm Ambrey said the seizure fits the pattern of counter-smuggling efforts by the Revolutionary Guards, according to Iran International, a London-based independent broadcaster.
Al Sharif said the vessel’s cargo of marine gasoil was legal.
The Togolese-flag Betelgeuse has Marshall Islands-registered Madrigal Marine as the registered owner, according to shipping databases, but Al Sharif said he is the ultimate owner.
He said the tanker had taken on cargo by ship-to-ship transfer off southern Iraq, but he lost contact on Sunday morning. Ambrey said the vessel was carrying 1,500 tonnes of marine gasoil, Iran International reported.
VesselsValue tracking data shows that on Saturday the vessel was headed southeast in the Gulf with Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates as its stated destination.
It then abruptly changed course twice, first moving further from the Iranian coast and then spinning around to sail directly toward Bushehr.
The ship stopped transmitting a location signal at 05:58 GMT on Sunday morning.
