Iran Revolutionary Navy Seizes Cargo Ship In Persian Gulf – News Brief

Iranian troops boarded a cargo ship early Tuesday morning that was moving through the Straits of Hormuz. The Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris was boarded after Iranian patrol boats fired shots across the vessel’s bow and ordered the Tigris to sail deeper into Iranian waters towards the port of Bandar Abbas. Early reports by various news organizations suggested that the 255 meter, 63,000 tonne vessel was a U.S. ship with 34 U.S. sailors, but the Pentagon denied that any Americans were on-board. It is believed that there are 24 workers on the Tigris.

Rickmers Ship Management based in Hamburg, Germany chartered the Dutch-owned Maersk Tigris and was running a normal commercial route through the Strait of Hormuz from Turkey to the port of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates when it was seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, possibly because of a financial dispute.

The incident, which prompted the U.S. Navy to dispatch a destroyer and a plane in response, comes as Iran and the U.S., along with other world powers, try to hammer out a final deal over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren stated the master of the cargo ship had initially refused an Iranian order to move further into Iranian waters, but after the warning shots were fired, the vessel complied. Colonel Warren said the cargo ship had been boarded by Iranians but none of the crew were injured. The cargo ship issued a distress call and the U.S. Navy sent a destroyer and an aircraft to the area to monitor the situation.

According to MarineTraffic.com, he ship is currently anchored in the Persian Gulf about 10 miles off the coast of Bandar Abbas on the southern coast of Iran.