An American oil tanker with 18 Filipino sailors aboard was seized by the Iranian Navy off Oman in retaliation for the “theft” of its oil from the same tanker last year by the United States, state media in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday.

The US condemned what it called an “unlawful seizure” and demanded Iran “immediately release the ship and its crew.”

The announcement of the seizure came hours after a British Navy maritime security agency said armed men had boarded the Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged St. Nikolas off Oman and changed course towards Bandar-e Jask in Iran, according to an Agence France Press report.

Four or five “unauthorized boarders are reported to be wearing military-style black uniforms with black masks,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

Iran’s navy later confirmed it had seized the ship, previously called the Suez Rajan.

“The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order,” the official IRNA news agency said.

The seizure was in retaliation for the “violation committed by the Suez Rajan ship and the theft of Iranian oil by the United States,” IRNA said.

Iran has responded with tit-for-tat measures in the past after seizures of Iranian oil shipments.

The commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and the 5th Fleet, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, said, “Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and threaten maritime security and stability.”

No info on Pinoys

No details were immediately available on the fate of the crew members, all but one of whom were Filipinos. The only other mariner on the tanker was Greek, possibly the captain.

Sought for comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was still awaiting a report on the incident.

“We are awaiting the official report on this incident,” DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza told reporters in a text message.

Crippling US sanctions, reimposed following Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal, target Iranian oil and petrochemical sales in a bid to reduce Iran’s energy exports.

“The Iranian government must immediately release the ship and its crew,” US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

“This unlawful seizure of a commercial vessel is just the latest behavior by Iran or enabled by Iran aimed at disrupting international commerce.”

Communications lost

Ambrey, a British maritime risk company, said the group that boarded the St. Nikolas covered the ship’s cameras. A security officer “reported hearing unknown voices over the phone along with the master’s voice,” it added.

Communications have been lost with the vessel carrying 19 crew — 18 Filipinos and one Greek — the tanker’s Greece-based management company Empire Navigation told AFP.

The vessel was loaded with 145,000 tons of crude oil in Basra, Iraq, and was destined for Aliaga in Turkey via the Suez Canal, Empire added.

Ambrey said the recently renamed tanker was previously fined for carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, which was confiscated by US authorities.

Quoting the Iranian Navy’s public relations office, IRNA said the ship was “being transferred to the ports of the Islamic Republic for delivery to the judicial authorities.”

In September, the US said it had seized the Suez Rajan and its cargo of 980,000 barrels of crude oil months earlier.

The US Department of Justice said at the time that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was allegedly selling the oil on the Greek-managed tanker to China.

Shortly after that seizure, Iran seized two tankers — the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet as it sailed toward the United States in the Gulf of Oman and the Greek-owned Niovi traveling from Dubai to Fujairah.

The Gulf of Oman, a key route for the oil industry that separates Oman and Iran, has witnessed a series of hijackings and attacks over the years, often involving Iran.

Shipping in the resource-rich region is also on heightened alert following weeks of drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.                           

With AFP