An oil tanker wanted by the United States for allegedly evading sanctions against Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers’ organization said on Wednesday.
Satellite photos showed the ship in Iranian waters on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, although his hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the United States.
David Hammond, CEO of the UK-based Human Rights at Sea, said he took a statement from the captain of the MT Gulf Sky, confirming that the ship had been hijacked.
Hammond said 26 of the Indian sailors on board had returned to India, while two remained in Tehran, without giving further details.
Hammond said he had no other details about the ship.
TankerTrackers.com, a website that tracks oil trade at sea, said it saw the ship in satellite photos Tuesday in Iranian waters off the island of Hormuz.
Hormuz Island, near the port city of Bandar Abbas, is located about 190 km (120 miles) north of Khorfakkan, a city on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates where the ship had been for months.
In May, the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against two Iranians, accusing them of trying to launder some $ 12 million to buy the tanker, later named MT Nautica, through a series of front companies.
The ship then took Iranian oil from Kharg Island to sell abroad, the United States government said.
Court documents allege that the scheme involved the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, which is its elite expeditionary unit, as well as Iran’s national oil and oil companies.
The two accused men, one of whom also has an Iraqi passport, remain at large.
Tracker data from the MT Gulf Sky automatic identification system shows it had turned off at approximately 4:30 a.m. on July 5, according to the ship tracking website. MarineTraffic.com.
As tensions between Iran and the United States heated up last year, tankers sailing the waters of the Middle East became targets, particularly near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf through which the 20th passes. percent of all oil.
Suspected limpet mine attacks that the United States blamed on Iran attacked several oil tankers. Iran denied involvement, although it seized several tankers.
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