Iran claims to have seized British oil tanker in strait of Hormuz

Source: The Guardian

July 19, 2019 at 15:23

The Stena Impero ship, which might have been taken by Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Photograph: pr

UK government urgently seeking information after Stena Impero veered into Iranian waters

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed on Friday evening to have seized a British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, which suddenly veered off course and headed into Iranian waters.

The ship’s owners issued a statement saying that at 3pm GMT (7pm local time), the ship had been “approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters”.

“We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran,” the owners, Stena Bulk, and the ship’s managers, Northern Marine, said.

The Revolutionary Guards issued a statement saying they had seized the Stena Impero, citing international maritime law for their actions. Iran had been complaining bitterly about the detention by UK forces of an Iranian tanker two weeks ago off Gibraltar.

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