Tension in the Strait of Hormuz remained high on Monday morning, April 20, after the US Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship which tried to run its blockade, while Iran immediately threatened to retaliate.
Reuters reported that efforts to extend the tenuous truce between the warring countries and build lasting peace in the region appeared under threat after Iran threatened to withdraw from any further peace negotiations.
The extreme uncertainty over safe maritime passage through the conflict-constricted choke point was made clear over the weekend when five liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from Ras Laffan, Qatar’s primary gas-processing hub, approached the strait.
It would have been the first sea shipment of LNG from the Persian Gulf through the strait since the war started on February 28.
One of the vessels was the Lebrethah, whose satellite tracking, captured by Marine Traffic, clearly showed the carrier sailing into the wider channel of the strait, closer to the coast of the United Arab Emirates, before turning around when it was parallel to Khasab on the Persian Gulf coast of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula.
Reuters reported that data from analytics firm Kpler showed four other LNG carriers, Al Ghashamiya, Fuwairit, Rasheeda and Disha, moving eastward towards the Strait of Hormuz.
Four of the tankers, including the Lebrethah, are controlled by QatarEnergy, while the Disha is chartered by India's Petronet.
QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Had the vessels looped around the strait’s Musandam point, it would have brought significant supply chain relief for Qatar, the world's second-largest exporter of LNG.
Since the war started, Qatari shipments of LNG, mostly destined for buyers in Asia, have decreased by at least 17%.
Renewed tension in the strait, including the spectre of peace negotiations collapsing, comes after the US military fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran's Port of Bandar Abbas, directly north of the strait’s tip.
Reuters reported that the US had fired at the the 4 800 TEU Touska after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines.
Marines had then rappelled from helicopters onto the vessel, US Central Command said.
"We have full custody of their ship and are seeing what's on board!" President Donald Trump wrote on social media.
Iran's military said the ship had been travelling from China.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military," an Iranian military spokesperson told state media.
