DUBAI: Iran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the US Navy said, the latest in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters since 2019.

Iran’s army said it had seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media reported.

“Two members of the boat’s crew are missing and several were injured due to the collision of the ship with the boat,” an army statement said.

The US Navy identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet which, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, is a Suezmax crude tanker which had been chartered by oil major Chevron and had last docked in Kuwait.

The vessel’s destination was listed as the US Gulf of Mexico port of Houston, ship tracking data showed.

Its manager is listed as Genel Denizcilik Nakliyati AS, a Turkey-based company which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Marshall Islands ship registry did not also immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” the US Navy said, adding that Iran has in the past two years unlawfully seized at least five commercial vessels in the Middle East.

The US Navy added that after sending a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to monitor the situation, “we have since been able to determine the IRIN (Iranian navy) conducted the seizure”.

Iranian authorities did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

About a fifth of the world’s crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow choke point between Iran and Oman which the Advantage Sweet had passed through, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.

The US Navy, whose Fifth Fleet is based in the Gulf island state of Bahrain, called on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) to immediately release the tanker.

The ship issued a distress call during the seizure, the US Navy statement said.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023