Iranian navy seizes US-bound oil tanker near Oman

Iran's navy has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it was headed to the United States, the latest-such capture in a waterway crucial for global energy supplies.

The US Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet. Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman, just north of Oman's capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon.

Manifest information from data firm Refinitiv showed the Advantage Sweet carried Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California.

"Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability," the 5th Fleet said in a statement. “Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said the seizure came after an “unknown ship collided with an Iranian vessel last night in the Persian Gulf, causing several Iranian crew members to go missing and get injured.” It did not identify the other ship involved in the alleged collision.

Meanwhile, on Friday, an unidentified vessel came under attack in the Gulf of Aden, south of war-torn Yemen, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

"UKMTO have received a report of a vessel under attack," the body said, adding "shots fired at vessel". Three boats were involved in the attack with three to four people on board each, the brief statement said.

Fifth incident in two years

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, but its track showed no unusual behaviour as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes.

“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 5th Fleet said, emphasising that it was at least the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.

Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

The vessel's manager, a Turkish firm called Advantage Tankers, issued a statement acknowledging the Advantage Sweet was “being escorted by the Iranian navy to a port on the basis of an international dispute.” All the ship's 24 crew members are Indian.

“The safety and welfare of our valued crew members is our No. 1 priority,” the firm said. “Similar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger.”

The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and the West has played out in the region’s volatile waters. Iranian tanker seizures have been a part of it since 2019.

The last major seizure came when Iran took two Greek tankers in May and held them until November.