Iranian court orders seizure of tanker following collision with Iranian vessel

An Iranian court has issued an order to seize a tanker that was involved in a collision with an Iranian vessel in the waters of the Gulf. The tanker in question, the Richmond Voyager, registered under the flag of the Bahamas, collided with an Iranian ship carrying seven crew members. The collision resulted in injuries to five individuals and caused significant flooding on the Iranian vessel. The Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Iran’s Hormozgan Province provided this information to the official IRINN news agency.

The United States Navy has reported that it prevented Iran from taking control of two tankers in response to the incident. Upon receiving a distress call from the Richmond Voyager, the U.S. Navy dispatched the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul to the location of the collision, which occurred in international waters off the coast of Oman. Iranian authorities reportedly demanded that the tanker stop and even fired shots, but they eventually departed when the USS McFaul arrived at the scene.

Following the incident, the owner of the Iranian ship requested the seizure of the Richmond Voyager, as reported by IRINN. However, Chevron, the U.S. oil company managing the tanker, reassured that the vessel was operating normally and that the crew members were safe.

It is worth noting that just over a month ago, Iran seized two oil tankers, as confirmed by the U.S. Navy. The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, serves as a crucial passage for approximately one-fifth of the world’s seaborne crude oil and oil products, according to Vortexa, an analytics firm. This region has experienced a series of shipping attacks since 2019, often occurring during periods of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.