Iran Seizes Fuel Tanker on Key Shipping Route

The ship, which was flying a Marshall Islands flag, was passing through the Strait of Hormuz when it lost contact with its managers.

By Pranav Baskar and Lynsey Chutel

Iran confirmed on Saturday that it had seized a fuel tanker that was headed for Singapore through the Strait of Hormuz the day before, according to Iranian state media.

The country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy said in a statement to state media that it had boarded the ship on Friday as part of an operation to “protect the national interests and resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The ship was seized because it was found to be “carrying unauthorized cargo,” the navy said.

Iran has periodically seized tankers transiting through the Persian Gulf, but it appeared to have been more than a year since a ship was last reported seized in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow 90-mile waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that is a crucial global shipping route.

The tanker, which was flying a Marshall Islands flag, was traveling from the United Arab Emirates when it lost contact with its managing company on Friday morning.

British maritime authorities said on Friday that said the vessel had last been seen “transiting toward Iranian territorial waters,” but it was not immediately clear at the time why the tanker had diverted from its course.

The navy acted under an Iranian court order to intercept the ship as it passed near Iran’s southern coast, according to Iranian state media. Authorities directed the ship to dock at a nearby port, where officials boarded the vessel to inspect its cargo of 30,000 tons of petrochemicals, state media reported.

The tanker, called the Talara, is roughly 750 feet long and 105 feet wide, according to marine traffic records. It is managed by Columbia Shipmanagement, a maritime firm based in Cyprus.

The ship’s manager said it had “notified the relevant authorities” and was working to “restore contact with the vessel.” It was carrying a cargo of high sulfur gas oil, which is used primarily as fuel for marine vessels.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia, said in a statement on Friday that it was “aware of the incident” and “actively monitoring the situation.” It added that “commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation.”

In the past, Iran has seized vessels for various reasons: retaliating after one of its own tankers had been seized, claiming the tankers had encroached Iran’s waters or accusing the vessels of carrying smuggled oil.

Iran has also long threatened to shut off the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a recurring source of geopolitical tension. A quarter of the world’s oil and 20 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas passes through the strait.

Iran has been increasingly isolated globally and facing dire water and power shortages, along with a staggering budget deficit.

Its network of regional proxy militias have been severely weakened, and, in June, the country’s military chain of command was decimated in a war against Israel that the United States joined by bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran has also been choked by renewed United Nations sanctions for failing to cut back its nuclear program.

Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.

Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.

Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.