Iran seizes second oil tanker in Gulf waters in a week

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In the latest of a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels since 2019, Iran on Wednesday morning seized control of a second oil tanker in Gulf waters in a week, Reuters reports.

Wednesday’s tanker seizure follows Iran’s commandeering of the Advantage Sweet, a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, on Thursday last week. The Advantage Sweet is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas on the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf, Reuters said.

According to the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet of the US Navy, the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) as it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz on its way to Dubai, Reuters reports.

The Niovi is owned by Grand Financing Co and is managed by Greece-based Smart Tankers, Reuters said. At 6.20am local time on Wednesday, IRGCN boats forced the tanker to change course towards Iranian territorial waters.

In an advisory Tuesday, the International Maritime Organization had said: “Heightened military activity and geopolitical tensions in these regions continue to pose serious threats to commercial vessels. Associated with these threats is the potential for miscalculation or misidentification, which could lead to aggressive actions,” IMO said.

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