The US military said Thursday that Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, the Advantage Sweet, that was bound for Texas. According to Iranian media, the ship was seized after it collided with an Iranian fishing vessel.
“The oil tanker issued a distress call during the seizure,” the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said in a statement. “Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”
According to Iran’s PressTV, the Iranian Navy “has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman and directed it toward the country’s territorial waters after the ship hit an Iranian vessel and tried to flee in violation of maritime regulations.”
The ship’s owner, Advantage Tankers, said they knew the ship was seized but were not aware of a collision. “The safety and welfare of our valued crew members is our number one priority,” the company said in a statement. “Similar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger.”
The US has a history of seizing vessels carrying Iranian oil and gas using sanctions enforcement as a pretext. In 2021, the US government sold 2 million barrels of Iranian oil for $110 million from a tanker seized near the UAE. During the Trump administration, the US sold off Iranian gas that was bound for Venezuela.
Stealing seems to be a new side line for the US Gov.?
In the old days, it would be called piracy.
yes. like the US confiscating an iranian oil tanker 2 years ago and the ongoing US literally stealing syria’s oil as soon as it is removed from the ground.
Good old days .. when British raided US ship Chesapeake under pretext of capturing British sailors who avoided British practice of emptessnent, a foorcible “recruitment” for expanding British navy. Keep in mind in those good old days crews, especially captain and officers were rewarded by the share of booty when capturing foreign ships under whatever pretexts. We are still living under the same Western model, and international law is invoked always by the losing side. US has nobeconomic leverage over Iran any more. 20 and 25 year treaties between Iran , Russia and China respectively — attest to changing nature of global leverage. This today applies to all members of SCO (regardless of membership level) and BRICS.
It would be instructive to watch the methods for dispute settlement among members. This may show a pattern for solving oroblems in international arrena.
It’s kind of like being from out of state and getting a speedtrap ticket in some Southern town.
You are not getting out of town without paying your ticket.
You hit a boat and those Irainian sea cops ain’t letting you ought of town until you pay for the “damages” (that may include whiplash injuries and a complete paint job) because hit-and-runs are not tolerated.
It’s almost certainly a pretext. It’s the job of the smaller boat to avoid the bigger boat – oil tankers are not very maneuverable, fishing boats avoid them, not the other way around. This is the Iranian govt getting even with America for seizing their tankers.
It could be or just some idiot in a fishing boat who ran into it because he got mad or just isn’t the great captain of his great vessle ( and should be entered in various races and boat shows) that he believes he and it is.
Or perhaps it really was the boat version of a hit-and-run and they just decided this was the perfect opportunity to screw with us and on our side it was the usual huffing we do whenever stuff like this happens?
Money will exchange hands and in a week or two we will be hard pressed to find stories how this turned out (especially in the MSM) because that really is all that is wanted; payment for damages and an apology that may border on groveling and they’ll be on their way.
It does not matter who was “at fault.” The duty is clear. You can’t run after seamen are killed in a collision. It is like motor vehicle law of fleeing the scene of an accident, where it also does not matter who was at fault. One must remain, “render aid,” and answer questions. No excuses.
I think that last line is correct. Iran seized a tanker important to the US to retaliate against the US for seizing one of theirs.
Great analogy, ZaSu!
Thanks; it was just hypothetical……about a friend….I never get in trouble…….
😁
Yes, but it is not just a “speed trap” when you kill a couple of pedestrians, or hit another vehicle and kill two of its occupants.
The Admiralty Law principles come from Britain, and are fully embraced by the US. This vessel’s behavior was just beyond excuse.
Maybe the tanker tried to flee,maybe not. We do not know.
Good job Iran! 😁
How’s it feel to be on the other side now, Murka?
“US Navy Says Iran Seized US-Bound Oil Tanker Near Oman”
“The US has a history of seizing vessels carrying Iranian oil and gas using sanctions enforcement as a pretext.”
tit for tat. maybe stop exporting US oil and we won’t need to be importing any from middle east.
Under Admiralty Law as practiced in the US (originating really with Britain) a vessel that flees a collision after killing seamen on the other vessel should be run down and arrested ASAP. It is like piracy, in that it makes the vessel the enemy of all.
Well, nothing about dead seamen in the article but sending out a distress call because you got seized but not after you hit and ran from a smaller craft merits some kind of legal consequences.
An interesting side note from Reuters… “The working hypothesis at the moment is that it could be an arbitrary detention of a vessel by Iran in response to the U.S. sailing its first unmanned vessel through the region last week – as a show of force,” [Munro Anderson] said. I’d never heard that the US was sailing “unmanned” vessels through the straights. That could account for its collision with the fishing boat and failure to stop.
The tanker that allegedly collided with the fishing boat (the Advantage Sweet) is neither a US vessel nor unmanned. It’s registered in the Marshall Islands, and its crew is mostly from India.
All of that is true enough, but it has no bearing on the fact that it was headed for Texas and the Iranians knew it. All of this is still up in the air.
Oh, I agree. It just sounded like you thought that the tanker and the US “unmanned vessel” were one and the same.
So. What are we going to do about it, double up on pirating Iranian oil tanker? Nuke Iran? Let Israel attack Iran? All of the above.
Good questions. But one bothered me. I seriously doubt that the Israeli military actually believes it’s aircraft would survive an attack on Iran.
The collision apparently took place in Persian Gulf resulting in several injuries on the fishing boat. The tanker then fled, but caught in Sea of Oman…!
The tanker will most likely won’t be released soon. I’ll give it a couple of years…!
Pump the oil out, then sink the sucker.
V, I like the way you think 😉
The tanker is owned by a Chinese company and managed by a Turkish company… Sinking it would not be a wise in shallow Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman…!
That complicates things. Darn.
Would still cause another environmental disaster.
In any case neither the US or Iran have ratified international laws – which makes the statement proffered by the 5 th fleet rather hypocritical.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”
It takes a large set of coconuts for anyone from the US to talk about “international law” with a straight face while squatting on Syrian territory.
He must be a graduate of DC lie School with top honors…!
Emil Cosman exposes the lying by omission technique perfectly. This article should be updated to reflect this “missing” important information. Iran leaders have a little bit more depth than your standard issue James Bond villain with a Persian cat. A perfect example of lying by omission: https://youtu.be/ExShrjiuiV4
Update: Reuters developed piece that suggests that Iran confiscated the tanker in retaliation for the seizure of one of their tankers by the US.
If so, the gauntlet has been thrown. Biden will likely be 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 to negotiate in good faith.
The Biden administration doesn’t have any “good faith”.
No dispute. But what I meant is that Biden now has a situation that will embarrass him politically until he resolves it, and resolving it will require a settlement.
As I see it he will be given 3 choices: 1. Return their property. 2. Compensate them for their property. 3. Rattle their cages in the hope that he doesn’t look weak until after November 2024.
He could, of course, try to resolve this militarily. But, unless he’s willing to use nuclear weapons, that could easily demonstrate that the US Navy can’t defeat Iran in its home waters… something that won’t be lost on his bluster about Taiwan.
Collision or no collision, Iran had good reason to confiscate Advantage Sweet because their oil tanker Suez Rajan was captured by US just a few days ago…!
A perfect example of lying by omission: https://youtu.be/ExShrjiuiV4