Larak Island News

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stood at well below 10% of normal volumes on Thursday despite a U.S.-Iran ceasefire as Tehran asserted its control by warning ships to keep to its territorial waters while doing so.Hundreds of tankers and other ships have been stuck inside the Gulf since the Iran war began on Feb 28, cutting global oil supply by 20% in the world's biggest-ever supply disruption. Prices for some physical oil grades hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday as the crisis showed little signs of abating.Iran must open the strait without conditions…

Iran has released the oil cargo of a Greek-owned, Marshall-Islands-flagged tanker it seized in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, a shipping source told Reuters on Thursday.The vessel, M/T St. Nikolas, is still being held by Iran, the source added. It was laden with 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil destined for Turkey when it was seized."The cargo was released earlier this week after negotiations," the source said.Turkish refiner Tupras said in a statement that the St. Nikolas…

Two Greek oil tankers seized by Iran last week are located in Iranian waters, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said in a Twitter post on Thursday."We now have a visual confirmation that the hijacked Greek Suezmax tanker Prudent Warrior is in the anchorage of Bandar Abbas, Iran," the online service which tracks and reports shipments and storage of crude oil said in the post.The second vessel, the Delta Poseidon, also a Suezmax tanker, is being held north of Larak island, it added.Iran Urges Greece to Cooperate Over Seized Ships Without US RoleThe Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy seized the two vessels on May 27 in the Gulf, after the United States confiscated oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker…

Somewhere on its journey from the waters off Iran, around Africa's southern tip and into the Mediterranean, the Grace 1 oil tanker lost the flag under which it sailed and ceased to be registered to Panama. Iran later claimed it as its own.The ship carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian crude was seized by British Royal Marines off Gibraltar, raising tensions in the Gulf where Iran detained a UK-flagged ship in retaliation.Grace 1 remains impounded, not because of its flag but because it was suspected of taking oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions, an allegation that Iran denies.Yet Panama's move on May 29 to strike it from its register…

Iran has seized a foreign tanker smuggling fuel in the Gulf, state television quoted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as saying on Thursday."A foreign vessel smuggling one million litres of fuel in the Larak Island of the Persian Gulf has been seized," the station said, adding that the ship was seized on Sunday.The Revolutionary Guards said the impounded vessel - which Iranian authorities have not yet named - was the same one it towed after it sent a distress call."The vessel that Iran towed to its waters after receiving a distress call, was later seized with the order from the court as we found out that it was smuggling fuel," the Guards said in a statement quoted by state television.The Guards said they had seized no other ship in the Gulf.Iranian navy vessels came to the assistance of a disa

U.S. Navy warships have begun accompanying British-flagged commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as a result of Iran's detention of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship last week, the Pentagon said on Monday. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. Navy had accompanied one British ship through the strait, one of the world's most important oil shipping channels, following talks between Washington and London. "They've asked if we would accompany their flagged vessels through the strait," Warren told reporters. The Navy has been accompanying U.S.-flagged ships traversing the strait for several days in response to last week's detention of the MV Maersk Tigris by Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats.

Ships from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain have begun accompanying U.S.-flagged maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Department officials said. Sufficient U.S. naval forces are assigned to the command to meet the requirements of the accompanying mission, officials said, adding that Navcent will coordinate with shipping-industry representatives to ensure the operations go smoothly and efficiently. The mission was prompted by two incidents this week in the Strait of Hormuz in which Iranian navy patrol vessels harassed commercial motor vessels traversing the strait. On April 24, four Iranian patrol boats approached the U.S.-flagged merchant ship Maersk Kensington, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said during an April 29 briefing.