Satellite images analyzed yesterday show two oil tankers recently seized by Iran off the coast of one of its key port cities on the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The photographs from Planet Labs PBC showed the Advantage Sweet and the Niovi anchored just south of Bandar Abbas near a naval base in the port city in Hormozgan Province on Saturday.
Their capture represents just the latest ship seizure conducted by Iran amid tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, although it appears the two ships might have been taken for different reasons.
Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP
Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet, staffed by 23 Indians and one Russian, on April 27 as it traveled in the Gulf of Oman.
Tehran said the vessel had struck another ship, although tracking data for the Advantage Sweet showed no erratic behavior on its trip.
Iran has made claims in the past over ship seizures to cover for the vessels being taken to use as pawns in negotiations with the West.
The Advantage Sweet carried Kuwaiti crude oil for US energy firm Chevron Corp at the time of its capture, and its seizure came as another tanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude disappeared from anchorage off Singapore a year after being identified as trying to evade US sanctions.
The Financial Times, as well as the maritime intelligence firm Ambrey, both have reported that Suez Rajan was seized on order of US authorities. US officials and those associated with the vessel have not responded to questions about the tanker’s disappearance while on a path heading West.
The Niovi, a Panama-flagged tanker, was seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy on Wednesday as it left a dry dock in Dubai bound for Fujairah on the United Arab Emirates eastern coast.
While not carrying any cargo, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed that the vessel in July 2020 received oil from a ship known then as the Oman Pride.
The US Department of the Treasury in August 2021 sanctioned the Oman Pride and others associated with the vessel over being “involved in an international oil smuggling network” that supported the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Revolutionary Guard that operates across the Mideast.
Separately, purported e-mails published online by Wikiran, a Web site that solicits leaked documents from Iran, suggest that cargo carried by the Niovi was sold on to firms in China without permission.
United Against a Nuclear Iran, which has tracked sanctioned crude shipments by Tehran, “strongly suspects the seizure of the Niovi is related to a dispute over a shipment of Iranian oil,” said Claire Jungman, chief of staff of the organization.
Iran has said it seized the Niovi over an unspecified court order in Tehran.
The managers of the Niovi did not respond to repeated telephone calls for comment. The Greek Coast Guard have said the Niovi was staffed by Greek, Filipino and Sri Lankan sailors.
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