US Navy Prevents Iran from Seizing Greek Tanker in the Gulf

On Wednesday, the US Navy (USN) claimed that it prevented the seizure of two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman, with one of the vessels reportedly being Greek.

Chevron, the oil company, reported an incident involving the “Richmond Voyager,” a large crude oil tanker under Greek ownership and flagged in the Bahamas. Chevron manages the tanker and confirmed that the crew is safe despite reports that the Iranian Navy opened fire.

Incidents involving the US and Iranian navies along busy maritime trade routes are not uncommon. The USN has frequently accused Iran of harassing vessels in busy shipping lanes. On occasion, Greek-owned or managed tankers have been involved in these incidents with Iran.

Greek tanker reportedly shot at by Iran in the Gulf of Oman

According to a statement from the USN, on Wednesday at 01:00 local time (21:00 GMT), an Iranian naval vessel made its way toward the TRF Moss, an oil tanker flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. The incident occurred in international waters within the Gulf of Oman.

“The Iranian vessel departed the scene when US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived on station,” said the USN. The statement added that the USN deployed surveillance assets including maritime patrol aircraft.

The USN further reported that approximately three hours later, it received a distress call from the Richmond Voyager, an oil tanker flying the flag of the Bahamas. The incident occurred when the ship was over 20 miles (32 km) off the coast of Muscat, Oman, while navigating through international waters.

“Another Iranian naval vessel had closed within one mile of Richmond Voyager while hailing the commercial tanker to stop,” the USN statement claimed. The USS McFaul responded by heading toward the scene of the incident at full speed.

“Prior to McFaul’s arrival on scene, Iranian personnel fired multiple, long bursts from both small arms and crew-served weapons,” the USN said. “Richmond Voyager sustained no casualties or significant damage. However, several rounds hit the ship’s hull near crew living spaces. The Iranian navy vessel departed when McFaul arrived.”

Iranian authorities have not commented on the incident.

On July 5, U.S. forces prevented two attempted commercial tanker seizures by the Iranian Navy after the Iranians had opened fire in one of the incidents near the coast of Oman. Both of these incidents occurred in international waters. Read more ⬇️ https://t.co/HJNTzKtsXv pic.twitter.com/rvzDcATCQq

— U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) July 5, 2023

Other incidents

This is not the first incident involving a Greek tanker and the Iranian Navy. Just last month, a Greek-managed merchant ship was “harassed” by the Revolutionary Guard of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

Before that, a Greek-managed tanker was seized by Iran in May. The USN reported at the time that the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy while passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

In May last year, another incident occurred wherein two Greek-flagged tankers were seized by Iran. They were finally released later that year in November.