The suezmax tanker previously at the centre of an Iranian cargo seizure row involving the US has been boarded by military personnel in the Gulf of Oman, in an apparent tit-for-tat move by Tehran.
The 158,600-dwt St Nikolas (built 2011), formerly the Suez Rajan, was seized on Thursday morning by four to five unauthorised armed personnel, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
Maritime security company Diaplous Group said a group in military uniforms boarded the vessel, owned by Greece’s Empire Navigation.
The Marshall Islands-flag ship was underway 47 nautical miles (87 km) east of Sohar, Oman.
The Stamatis Molaris-led company confirmed losing contact with the vessel at about 04:30 GMT. Chartered by Turkish state oil company Tupras, the St Nikolas was carrying about 145,000 tonnes of crude from Basrah, Iraq, to Aliaga, Turkey, on behalf of the Turkish state.
The assailants were wearing “black military-style uniforms with black masks”, according to UKMTO.
As soon as they boarded the tanker, the individuals covered the vessel’s cameras, Diaplous said.
The master contacted the company’s security officer, who said he heard unfamiliar voices over the phone, along with the master’s.
According to Empire Navigation, there are 19 seafarers on board — 18 Filipinos and one Greek.
Security advisory company Ambrey Analytics said the tanker was moving at 11.4 knots and continued at that speed in a steady direction an hour into the reported time of boarding.
After that, it changed direction to port and increased speed to 12.9 knots.
The AIS is off, but Ambrey said the St Nikolas was heading in the direction of Bandar-e-Jask, Iran.
“Iran has previously taken action against those it has accused of cooperating with the US,” Ambrey said.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, citing foreign reports, mentioned the boarding but did not give details.
Suspicion falls on Iran, given the vessel’s history.
“If you cause them harm, the Iranians never forget,” said one shipping player.
Troubled history
After a year-long cargo dispute the US Department of Justice ultimately seized 1m barrels of Iranian crude on the ship.
Tehran last year already responded to the seizure with a retaliatory seizure of its own, grabbing the Chevron-chartered, 159,000-dwt suezmax tanker Advantage Sweet (built 2012) in April, which is still in Iranian custody.
The Suez Rajan first hit the headlines in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker had carried oil from Iran’s Kharg Island.
The vessel was stuck for months in the South China Sea before sailing for the Texas coast.
There it discharged its cargo in August to another tanker, which released its oil in Houston as part of a justice department order.
In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4m fine in a case involving the tanker.
The company claimed that it had not been aware of the Iranian origin of the cargo, that it worked “promptly and responsively” with the US justice department to resolve the matter and that it fired one employee “who took actions that facilitated this sanctions violation”.
Renamed St Nikolas, the ship resumed trading and passed through the Suez Canal in November with an oil cargo heading to Singapore, according to Kpler tracking data.
It ballasted back to Basrah this month in its first voyage to the Middle East Gulf since the US seizure. It was boarded in the Gulf of Oman as it left the area.
The incident will heighten tensions in the region, following a string of attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
