Iran's navy seizes US-bound oil tanker 'Advantage Sweet' in international waters in Gulf of Oman - FIFTH vessel they've hijacked in two years
- Officials say the ship is the Advantage Sweet, which sent a distress call at 1.15pm
- It traveled from Kuwait and was headed to Houston, officials revealed Thursday
- Its last known location was just north of Oman's capital, Muscat, early Thursday
Iran's navy seized a Marshall Island-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, according to US officials- the latest in a series of seizures amid greater tensions over Tehran's growing nuclear aspirations.
America's own maritime military service made the revelation Thursday, while identifying the ship as the Advantage Sweet.
Officials said the vessel had been heading to Houston - before it was abruptly hijacked in international waters. The US Navy said in a statement the unlawful seizure was carried out by Iran's own naval branch.
The vessel sent a distress signal at 1.15pm, officials said, while being taken in international waters just north of Oman's capital, Muscat. The boat disembarked from Kuwait Monday and passed through the Persian Gulf the day before.
The US Navy fleet stationed in that area of the world is now demanding the ship's immediate release, with it being the fifth commercial vessel unlawfully taken by Tehran in the past two years.
The oil tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman in international waters Thursday, after leaving Kuwait Monday morning
The Navy has identified the vehicle as the Advantage Sweet (seen here), with the vessel sending a distress signal at 1.15pm Thursday while in international waters
'Iran's actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,' the military branch's 5th Fleet said in a statement Thursday that announced the boat's capture.
'The Iranian government should immediately release the oil tanker,' it added.
Initially, The Navy had said Iran’s paramilitary seized the vessel, but an American naval aircraft shortly thereafter confirmed Iran's navy captured the ship.
Fifth Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins clarified that to The Associated Press Thursday as news of the seizure remained largely shrouded, with few details shared more than an hour later.
A report from Iran’s state-run news station, IRNA, claimed it came after an 'unknown ship collided with an Iranian vessel last night in the Persian Gulf.'
The alleged crash, the agency claimed, caused 'several Iranian crew members to go missing and get injured.'
The report did not specify the other ship involved in the alleged collision, but claimed it tried to flee when confronted by Iranian forces.
'The unknown vessel, while acting in violation of international regulations to help the vessel and the injured, attempted to escape from the Persian Gulf.'
It added: 'In this operation, the Binder destroyer of the navy of the army, by court order, seized the violator ship that was fleeing with the flag of the Marshall Islands and directed it to the coastal waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
The vessel sent a distress signal at 1.15pm, officials said, while being taken in international waters just north of Oman's capital, Muscat. The boat disembarked from Kuwait Monday, and passed through the Persian Gulf the day before.
The US Navy fleet stationed in that area of the world, the US 5th Fleet, is now demanding the ship's release, with it being the fifth commercial vessel unlawfully taken by Tehran in two years
The US Navy, however, insisted the incident served as just the latest example of aggression by the Islamic regime toward civilian vessels, as it continues to flout a 2015 diplomacy deal that saw it dismantle much of its nuclear program.
'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 in its statement, before citing how since 2019, attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters by Iran have been on the rise.
The same year that heightened aggression was first seen, Iran began ignoring limitations detailed in the historical Iran Nuclear Deal, a year after then-President Trump withdrew the US from the deal.
Washington and Tehran have since said they would be willing to return to the original deal, but that day has yet to come - and tensions have continued to rise between the two countries.
Amid these tensions, Iran has seized ships belonging to an assortment of Western countries, as they pass through the same narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman where the Advantage Sweet traveled.
Called the Strait of Hormuz, it's a route that a fifth of the world's oil passes through, and is crucial to world trade.
Iran last November captured - and a day later - released two Greek-flagged tankers it had seized in the Gulf in May, days after the US confiscated oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast.
Like three other incidents that preceded it over the past year, nothing became of it - aside from demonstrating Iran's defiance toward Washington.
In the recent case of the Sweet, the vessel's manager, a Turkish firm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the county's mission to the United Nations.
The listed owner of the boat is a Chinese company called SPDBFL No One Hundred & Eighty-Seven (Tianjin) Ship Leasing Co Ltd.
