Three ships targeted in Hormuz, Iran seizes two

 Despite US President Donald Trump announcing a ceasefire, Iran has continued its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Ships in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khasab, Musandam Governorate, Oman. Shipping traffic has dropped sharply after Iran imposed a blockade following US and Israeli attacks. (EPA Images pic)

DUBAI:

 Iranian forces targeted three container ships on Wednesday, seizing two and firing on a third, global security monitors and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said, the latest incidents to threaten a crucial trade route in the Middle East war.

The Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IGRC) said its naval force “this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships”.

In a statement, the force said the vessels “were seized by the IRGC’s naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast.”

The IRGC named the two ships seized as the MSC-Francesca and the Epaminondas, Iranian broadcaster IRIB said on Telegram.

It alleged the Francesca was linked to Israel while the Epaminodes lacked “the necessary permits” and had been “tampering with navigation systems”.

Ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic showed the two vessels — both container ships — stopped near the Iranian coast on Wednesday.

IRGC said separately that their naval forces stopped two ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz and directed them to Iranian waters.

It accused them of breaching its blockade of the route, imposed in the Middle East war that erupted on Feb 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

The third ship, British maritime security agency UKMTO said an Iranian gunboat fired at a container ship off the coast of Oman Wednesday, while a ship off Iran was also fired upon.

“The master of a container ship reported that the vessel was approached by one IRGC gunboat… that then fired upon the vessel, which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.

It added that the incident took place 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman and all the crew were safe.

According to British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech, the vessel was sailing under a Liberian flag and “had been informed it had permission to transit the Strait of Hormuz”.

Iranian news agency Tasnim said the ship had “ignored warnings from Iran’s armed forces”.

In a separate incident, a cargo ship eight nautical miles west of Iran was fired upon and stopped in the water, UKMTO said.

“A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel,” UKMTO said.

Vanguard identified it as the Panama-flagged containership Euphoria, which it said was “transiting outbound of the Strait of Hormuz”.

MarineTraffic later showed the Euphoria had left the strait and was headed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has been heavily restricted by Iran since the start of the war with Israel and the United States, while the US military is enforcing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the truce between the two countries would be extended after it first took effect on April 8. - FMT