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US reportedly intercepts three additional Iranian tankers in Indian Ocean
US forces have reportedly redirected ’at least’ three tankers in the Indian Ocean days after posting video showing the seizure of a sanctioned, ’stateless’ VLCC
US forces have redirected three crude tankers in the Indian Ocean, according to UK-based maritime security firm Vanguard Tech.
Vanguard said that, while the US Central Command (US CENTCOM) has only publicly confirmed one incident, reported intercepts with two others are based on reports from shipping and security sources.
"Vanguard is aware of reports that US military forces have intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged crude tankers and redirected them away from positions near India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. The reported vessels include the Deep Sea, described as a part-loaded supertanker last publicly tracked off Malaysia; the Sevin, a smaller tanker with a capacity of up to 1 million barrels and reportedly carrying about 65% of its load; and the Dorena, a supertanker reportedly fully loaded with around 2 million barrels of crude and last seen off southern India," an update from the firm said.
US Central Command took to X (formerly Twitter) to report its claims of success in blockading Iran’s ports and address what it called ’inaccurate reports’ of evasions of the ongoing blockade by commercial vessels.
"Hero II and Hedy did not sail past the blockade as part of a flotilla that ’ferried’ millions of barrels of oil to the market. In fact, the Iranian-flagged tankers are anchored in Chah Bahar, Iran, after being intercepted by US forces earlier this week. Dorena has been under the escort of a US Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean after previously attempting to violate the blockade," the US military command unit said.
Maritime Security firm EOS Marine Head of Advisory Martin Kelly took to LinkedIn to counter claims by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said that the US blockade has been effective and claimed that Iran does not have control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"I would argue that the almost zero ships that have passed via SoH in the past few days, and the zero US ships that have passed through suggest otherwise," Mr Kelly posted, noting that the “’US Blockade is effective’, other than the tankers that are still loading at Kharg and bypassing the blockade to India and other countries."
Ongoing vessel seizures by Iranian and US military forces
As Riviera has reported, Iran fired on three container ships on 22 April and reportedly boarded and seized two.
"The Iranian seizure of the two vessels should be seen as a tit-for-tat in relation to the Iranian container vessel Touska and tanker Tifani, which were seized by the US in recent days," container shipping specialist and Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen said.
On 20 April, US forces stopped and seized very large crude carrier (VLCC) Tifani in the Indian Ocean, according to US military officials.
The 300,000-dwt tanker, which can carry up to 2M barrels of oil, is listed as a sanctioned asset in the Open Sanctions database. The vessel is listed in vessel database Equasis as having an unknown flag and in others as flying the flag of Botswana. Ownership details list a Suriname-based entity called World Crew Provider.
According to vessel tracking software, the vessel was seized between Sri Lanka and Malaysia in the Indian Ocean, south of the Bay of Bengal.
The vessel reportedly loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island on 5 April, during a 30-day waiver period that the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had initiated on 20 March, but the Department of War said in a post on X that it will "continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of manoeuvre in the maritime domain".
IMO Secretary General issued a statement on 22 April condemning "attacks on and seizures of commercial ships" as "unacceptable".
"I once again call for these reckless actions to cease and for any ships and innocent seafarers to be released immediately," Mr Dominguez said. "The situation in the region remains extremely volatile. I cannot understand why companies would take risks and endanger seafarers’ lives."
Latest tanker interceptions in Indian Ocean
All three of the vessels reported by Vanguard to have been intercepted by US military forces in the Indian Ocean are listed on the Open Sanctions database.
The largest, Dorena, is a 319,260-dwt VLCC flying the Iranian flag and linked to an Iranian owner, Eucalyptus Shipping, in the Equasis shipping database. The Open Sanctions database shows the vessel as managed by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC.
Also managed by NITC and flying an Iranian flag, VLCC Deep Sea is 296,977-dwt and reported by Equasis to be owned by Iranian company Award Shipping.
The 164,154-dwt Suezmax tanker Sevin is also listed by Equasis as owned by Award Shipping in Iran and managed by NITC.
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