Iran seizes foreign tanker smuggling fuel in Gulf of Oman, detains 18 crew

Iranian authorities report seizing a foreign-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for smuggling six million liters of fuel, detaining 18 crew members.

The vessel was intercepted on Friday in waters under Iran’s sovereignty near the western Jask area, off the southern province of Hormozgan, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Mojtaba Ghahremani, the chief justice of Hormozgan province, said that the seizure was part of ongoing intelligence monitoring and surveillance of suspected fuel-smuggling activities along Iran’s maritime borders in the Sea of Oman. 

Fuel-smuggling ship seized in Persian Gulf waters

Iran has seized an Eswatini-flagged vessel in the Persian Gulf on charges of transporting smuggled fuel.

Judicial officers, acting under a court warrant, boarded and inspected the tanker after it was found to have committed multiple maritime violations and lacked legal documentation related to its cargo, Ghahremani said.

The tanker was subsequently confiscated on charges of transporting six million liters of smuggled fuel, equivalent to the capacity of around 200 barges or 2,000 fuel tanker trucks. 

Media reports from Iran indicated that the 18 detainees include the ship’s captain and crew members, who are nationals of India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. 

The crew members face charges of “ignoring orders to stop, attempting to flee, operating without navigation and cargo documents, switching off radar systems, and damaging onboard equipment at the time of seizure.” 

A judicial case has been opened at the public and revolutionary prosecutor’s office in Jask, with ongoing investigations into the violations and smuggling charges, according to Ghahremani. 

The suspects have been placed under judicial supervision while legal procedures continue, with further details to be announced once the investigation is complete, he added.  

Iran has stepped up efforts to curb the smuggling of Iranian-made oil products in the Persian Gulf. These products, mainly motor fuels, are illegally shipped to Arab states in the region, where fuel prices can be more than 20 times higher than those inside Iran.

Officials in Iran assert that intensified efforts to combat fuel smuggling have dealt a serious blow to organized smuggling networks and their financial resources. 

Fuel-smuggling ship seized in Persian Gulf waters

Iran has seized an Eswatini-flagged vessel in the Persian Gulf on charges of transporting smuggled fuel.

On Wednesday, Iran seized an Eswatini-flagged vessel transporting 0.35 million liters of smuggled diesel as part of a broader crackdown on the illegal yet lucrative trade of subsidized Iranian fuel in the region.

Also in mid-November, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker outside Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf for carrying unauthorized cargo.

Subsequent reports indicated that the tanker had been transporting some 30,000 metric tons of Iranian-owned petrochemical materials.

Iranian authorities released the tanker four days later after offloading its cargo.

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