Iran Seizes Tanker in Gulf Water after Collision

Padmesh Prabhune

Iran seized a tanker in Gulf waters last week after it reportedly collided with an Iranian vessel in gulf water in Strait of Homuz.

Iran categorically said on Thursday 6^th July that it had a court order to seize a tanker in Gulf waters a day earlier after it collided with an Iranian vessel, one of two tankers which the U.S. Navy said it prevented Iran from commandeering.

According to reports from the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Iran’s Hormozgan Province the M/T Richmond Voyager, a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, had collided with an Iranian vessel and the Iranian navy had a court order to seize it.

The U.S. Navy said it had sent guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul to respond to a distress call from the Richmond Voyager off the coast of Oman in international waters. It said Iranian authorities had asked the tanker to stop and had fired shots but the Iranian navy vessel departed when McFaul arrived.

Iran said the Richmond Voyager’s collision with an Iranian ship carrying seven crew members had injured five people and caused flooding on board, and that the tanker had not stopped after the incident. The Iranian ship’s owner then requested the tanker be seized.  However U.S. oil major Chevron CVX refuted the Iranian claim saying that the tanker Richmond Voyager was not involved in any collision in the Gulf.

Chevron, which manages the Richmond Voyager, said its crew were safe and the vessel was operating normally. The U.S. Navy had earlier responded to an incident involving the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss in the same region. The U.S. Navy further said that Iran had seized two oil tankers in a week just over a month ago.

About a fifth of the world’s supply of seaborne crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint between Iran and Oman however unfortunately  Since 2019, there has been a series of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

–Marex Media