The Iranian Navy announced on Thursday that a vessel had been seized in the Arabian Sea, following separate reports from the British Royal Navy about a boarding in the same waters. The Iranian statement described the vessel as an American tanker and said the seizure occurred after a court decision, though the announcement provided limited details and did not identify the ship by name. The brief note was published by Tasnim News Agency, a Tehran-based outlet closely aligned with official positions.
Hours earlier, British maritime authorities said they had boarded a ship about 50 miles northeast of Sohar, Oman, identifying the incident as occurring around 3:30 GMT and involving four to five unauthorized armed individuals in the area. The British account described the event as a boarding operation in international waters near Oman, confirming that the ship had been detained during the action.
The vessel reported in the British account was the oil tanker St. Nicholas, a ship sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and owned by the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation. Greek authorities subsequently confirmed the ship’s presence and relayed the ongoing details of the case. It was noted that the crew included predominantly Greek nationals along with a considerable number of Filipino sailors, totaling 37 people on board at the time of the incident.
The tanker, which had been listed under the name Rajan of Suez during recent negotiations, has been involved in a protracted dispute tied to U.S. enforcement actions. U.S. authorities had previously seized one million barrels of Iranian crude oil that the ship was transporting, a development that has contributed to the ongoing legal and diplomatic tension surrounding the vessel and its cargo.
According to the Greek government’s Athens-based agency, AMNA, the oil on board originated from Basra in Iraq, quantified at around 145,000 tons. The vessel’s declared final destination was the Turkish port of Aliağa, a route that was linked to leasing arrangements with Turkey’s state oil company, Tüpraş. This sequence of movements underscored the complex web of sanctions, cargo commitments, and international contracts that commonly characterize maritime oil trade in the region.
However, AMNA also indicated that the ship was maneuvering toward Bandar-e-Jask, Iran, as reported by the British maritime security firm Ambrey Analytics. The latest trajectory appeared to reflect shifting priorities in the midst of geopolitical frictions, with implications for how service providers, insurers, and flag registries manage risk in sensitive corridors. The developing story continued to unfold as authorities from multiple jurisdictions reviewed the status of the tanker and its crew, along with the broader legal ramifications of the seizure and the cargo’s disposition.