Initial reports claim that Iran has seized a US cargo ship, but according to the Pentagon, the ship was not American and no Americans were aboard. Fox News reports that the ship is from Denmark.
Iranian Navy vessels fired shots at and boarded a Marshall Islands-flagged commercial container ship in the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, a senior defense official told Fox News.
The Maersk Tigris ship — originally heading to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, is now being escorted by the Iranian Navy into waters near Bandar Abbas, home of Iran’s largest Navy base.
The USS Farragut, a guided missile destroyer, is making “best speed” en route to the area and has dispatched a helicopter to get a closer look, the official said.
Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the cargo ship’s master had initially refused an Iranian order to move further into Iranian waters, but after the warning shots were fired the Maersk Tigris complied.
The cargo ship, which had more than 30 people aboard, was directed to waters near Larak Island, he said.
The Iranian vessels, numbering five or six, were with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Warren said.
Related Image
The position of the Maersk Tigris Monday while being escorted by the Iranian Navy. (MarineTraffic.com)
“It is inappropriate” for the Iranians to have fired warning shots across the ship’s bridge in those circumstances, Warren said, adding that it was too early to know whether the Iranian intervention amounted to a violation of the freedom of navigation through a waterway heavily used by international shipping.
The spokesman said the U.S. government has “certain obligations” to defend the interests of the Marshall Islands, but he was uncertain how those obligations apply in this situation.
Warren said no one has been injured and no Americans are involved. The cargo ship issued a distress call and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, based in the area.
A Maersk spokesman told Fox News that although Maersk, a Danish company based in Copenhagen, owns the vessel, it had “chartered” the ship to Rickmers Ship Management based in Hamburg, Germany. Maersk said it had no information about the crew or the cargo
Iran just needs to be nuked … they are no good
Obama is a liar, don”t believe a thing he says.
Did we thank them?
Hmmm..Carter’s hostage situation is now Obama’s nightmare.
Get outta that part of the world!
Shart
and what does obummer do? absolutely nothing
thanks obama
They will be there until we get A new President
these are the ones he wants to make deals with