Second Oil Tanker in a Week Seized by Iran in Gulf - U.S. Navy

A second oil tanker in a week was seized by Iran on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the U.S. Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019.

The Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) at 0620 local time while passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. 

The Advantage Sweet is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas, the Marshall Islands flag registry said on Tuesday. 

The Niovi oil tanker was travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said.

 (Reuters - Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Nadine Awadalla and Ahmed Elimam; Writing by Lisa Barrington, Editing by Louise Heavens)