Iran said it has seized a third tanker in a little over two weeks as the US Navy plans to ramp up its presence in and around the Strait of Hormuz to protect shipping.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy and Intelligence Ministry have “retaken” the 9,300-dwt clean product tanker Purity (built 2008), Iranian broadcaster Press TV reported on Friday.
Tracking data from VesselsValue shows the vessel is anchored off the port of Asaluyeh.
Mojtaba Qahremani, head of the Justice Department of Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan, said the ship was brought to Iranian waters after a judicial order.
“The seized 10,000-tonne oil tanker Purity had been illegally leased to a foreigner by falsifying documents since 2018 and its Iranian owners were deprived of the benefits of the oil tanker,” Qahremani said, according to a Press TV account of a Tasnim news agency report.
Data from the French transport ministry’s Equasis database shows the Panama-flag ship is owned by Sun Ocean Shipping, which is listed at the address of its Hong Kong-based commercial manager, Unicorn Asia. The company could not be immediately reached for this story.
The database of shipbroker Clarksons, however, says the vessel is in the control of India’s Coastal Shipping Links, which could not be immediately reached by phone or email.
The basis for officials’ claim of prior Iranian control of the ship was not immediately clear, but the Purity had previously been linked to business with Iran.
Prior blacklisting
The tanker, under former name Sun Ocean, was blacklisted by US authorities in 2014 as part of sanctions against Lissome Marine Services and Nefertiti Shipping.
Washington targeted the two companies over links to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and National Iranian Tanker Co.
The companies and the ship were removed from the list in 2016, according to Ofac.
The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said it is working with allies and partners in the region to increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the region.
The Bahrain-based fleet, which is responsible for the Gulf and nearby waters in the Middle East, couched the move as a response to Tehran’s “unlawful merchant vessel seizures”, to deter threats to shipping and reassure mariners.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet, said the US and its partners are committed to protecting rights of navigation in the region.
“Iran’s unwarranted, irresponsible and unlawful seizure and harassment of merchant vessels must stop,” he said.
In recent weeks, Iranian naval forces have seized Smart Tankers’ 309,000-dwt VLCC Niovi (built 2005) and Advantage Tankers’ 159,000-dwt suezmax Advantage Sweet (built 2012). The Advantage Sweet appears to have been targeted in response to the US seizure of Empire Navigation’s 159,000-dwt tanker Suez Rajan (built 2011).
The Fifth Fleet said that, in addition to heightening patrols, it is bolstering its collaboration with the International Maritime Security Construct and European Maritime Awareness, which are multi-nation collaborations focused on the Middle East.
“Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels over the past two years,” the Fifth Fleet said on Friday. “This pattern of destabilising behaviour is contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security.”
Details of the enhanced US naval presence are not immediately clear.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that more will be announced in the coming days.
“The Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture,” he said in a Voice of America report.
Tracking data from VesselsValue shows the Suez Rajan remains in the Atlantic Ocean on a path towards North America’s east coast. It is believed to be destined for the US, where authorities are reportedly planning to seize its cargo of suspected Iranian oil.
