Iran Seizes ‘Tugboat,’ Filipino Crew In Persian Gulf
Iran Seizes ‘Tugboat,’ Filipino Crew In Persian Gulf RFE
A boat of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards passes the Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel owned by Stena Bulk, at an undisclosed place at sea near Bandar Abbas last month.Share
Iranian news agencies say that the country’s coast-guard forces have seized a vessel in the Persian Gulf and detained its 12 crew members.
Authorities accuse the ship — reportedly a tugboat — and its Filipino crew of smuggling fuel.
Accusations in the region of small-scale fuel smuggling are relatively common.
But a new capture of a vessel comes with a British-flagged tanker and part of its crew still in Iranian hands, an Iranian supertanker evading U.S. pressure to seize it in the eastern Mediterranean, and Western governments increasingly banding together to counter Iranian actions in the key strategic waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s heavy state subsidies for fuel combined with the recent plummet of its currency make for a powerful incentive for fuel smuggling to nearby countries.
ISNA news agency said the vessel seized on September 7 was carrying nearly 300,000 liters of diesel fuel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for an international effort to escort vessels to defend commercial shipping interests in the Persian Gulf against Iranian harassment and illegal interference, meeting with support from Australia, Britain, and other Western and gulf state officials.
The owner of the British-flagged oil tanker that has been in Iranian custody since July, the Stena Impero, said this week that Iran had released seven of that vessel’s 23 crew members, Indian, Russian, Latvian, and Filipino nationals.
Its owner and manager reject Iranian accusations that the Stena Impero broke international maritime laws before its capture in July.