2024-04-15 13:20:33
20 people on board
Iran hijacks container ship linked to Israel
13.04.2024Reading time: 2 min.
Military tensions have been growing in the Middle East for days. Iran’s navy has now seized a container ship.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Navy has seized a container ship. The ship with ties to Israel was on its way to Iranian waters after it was arrested on Saturday, the state news agency Irna reported. Videos from the agency showed commandos rappelling from a military helicopter onto the deck of the ship. Further information was initially not known.
The British Navy agency UKMTO had previously reported on the case and located it in the Gulf of Oman, about 50 nautical miles northeast of the port city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Iran’s navy has seized oil tankers and container ships near the Strait of Hormuz in the past.
Last known position from Friday evening
According to reports, it was the container ship “MSC Aries”, which, according to information from the Israeli army broadcaster, sails under the Portuguese flag. It probably has, among other things, Israeli owners, the broadcaster wrote on X, formerly Twitter. According to the ship tracking service Vessel Finder, the ship, which was 366 meters long, was traveling from the United Arab Emirates to India. The last position was received on Friday afternoon when the container giant was in front of Dubai. There should be 20 people on board.
In response to the arrest, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz spoke of a “pirate action” in violation of international law. In a post on Platform X, he called on the European Union to impose new sanctions against Iran and to classify the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
Military tensions are higher than they have been in years
Military tensions in the region are at their highest in years. After the suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria, in which two brigadier generals were killed, the government in Tehran has threatened its arch-enemy Israel with retaliation. Observers see the enemy countries on the verge of a military escalation.
The Strait of Hormuz, a 55-kilometer-wide strait between Iran and Oman, is considered one of the most important shipping routes for global oil exports. The US regularly accuses the Iranian navy of obstructing civilian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the adjacent Gulf of Oman.
Since the Gaza war broke out at the beginning of October, conflicts in the region have increased significantly, including on the sea routes. In particular, Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi rebels have regularly attacked tankers heading to Israel. Large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the Red Sea route, the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe.