Iran seizes Maersk containership

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized control of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The cargo ship was operated by Rickmers Ship Management. The vessel was carrying cargo for AP Moeller-Maersk, the Danish shipping and oil conglomerate which chartered the ship, the Maersk Tigris.

This prompted the US Navy to dispatch a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Farragut, and a P-3 surveillance aircraft to “monitor” the situation, officials said.

According to Associated Press, Iranian military ships fired across the bow of the Maersk Tigris when the captain initially refused a demand to head towards Iranian territory, US government and cargo company officials said.

Iran said it had ordered the ship to be impounded at the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas because of a commercial dispute. This was over alleged unpaid debts, Hadi Haghshenas of the Iran Ports and Maritime Organisation was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

The container ship had last made a stop at the Red Sea port of Jeddah, on the Saudi Arabian coast, and was sailing through the strait into Gulf waters bound for the United Arab Emirates, according to the website maritimetraffic.com. 

The container vessel had a 24-member crew and was carrying regular commercial cargo but nothing related to weapons, said Cor Radings, spokesman for Rickmers Ship Management.

Iran’s actions appeared “provocative” but “we don't have all the facts yet”, said Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steven Warren.

The cargo ship was approached by the Iranians along a standard shipping route used by commercial vessels, part of which lies in Iran’s territorial waters, officials said.

Under maritime law governing the narrow Strait of Hormuz, commercial ships have the right to move through Iran’s territorial waters, under the principle known as “innocent passage”, officials said.