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NUKEWARS
Iran harassed a US-flagged cargo ship last week: US
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 29, 2015


Iran says cargo ship seized under court order
Tehran April 29, 2015 - Iranian maritime authorities said on Wednesday that Iran seized a ship carrying cargo for Denmark's giant Maersk group under a legal ruling over a longstanding commercial dispute.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards intercepted the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel Maersk Tigris on Tuesday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf.

The Iranian Port and Maritime Organisation, in a statement, said the vessel was intercepted "upon a legal order" and transferred to Shahid Bahonar port in southern Iran.

The ruling was "based on a lawsuit by a private company called Pars Talayieh Oil Product company (Golden Pars Oil Products) against Maersk ship company," it said.

"This lawsuit has been ongoing in legal courts in recent years and the competent court has issued the ruling" after having heard from both sides in the dispute.

It said Maersk was ordered to pay financial damages in what was a purely commercial case with no political dimensions. The ship can only be released "upon a judicial ruling", it said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at New York University, said a lawsuit was filed against the ship's owners between 15 and 16 years ago over an undelivered cargo.

"It has gone through court proceedings in Tehran based on what I hear from the lawyer. The final decision by the court is that the ship's owners are supposed to pay damages," he said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the action was taken "in conformity with international regulations".

"We hope that once the financial dispute has been resolved the ship can resume its journey," she said in a statement received by AFP.

She said the 24 crew members -- mostly from eastern Europe and Asia -- were "in good health" and there were no restrictions on consular access.

Pars Talayieh, a private company which deals primarily in oil derivatives, was unavailable for comment on the case.

In October 2012, Maersk announced a halt to its activities in Iran after Western oil and financial sanctions were slapped on the country over its controversial nuclear programme.

The ship was operated by Rickmers Ship Management, with head offices in Singapore and Hamburg, and was carrying cargo for Maersk Line, the group's shipping unit which had chartered the vessel.

A spokesman for the Danish group said the Maersk Tigris does not belong to the company and it does not employ the crew.

The shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk also said Wednesday that the crew was safe but it remained tight-lipped about any commercial dispute.

Iranian military ships fired across the bow of the Maersk Tigris when its captain initially refused a demand to head towards Iranian territory, prompting the US Navy to dispatch a destroyer to "monitor" the situation, officials said.

The seizure came against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Gulf, fuelled by the Yemen conflict and high-stakes diplomacy between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards "harassed" a US-flagged commercial ship last week in the Gulf, days before seizing control of another cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The two incidents over a five-day period raised concerns about the security of shipping lanes in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

"It's difficult to know exactly why the Iranians are behaving this way," Warren said.

"We call on them to respect all of the internationally established rules of freedom of navigation, the law of the sea to which they are a signatory and other established protocols," he said.

In the April 24 incident, four Iranian patrol boats with the country's elite Revolutionary Guards "harassed a US-flagged merchant ship called the Maersk Kensington" as it moved along an established shipping route, he said.

The Iranian vessels "followed her for approximately 15 to 20 minutes in actions the ship master of the Kensington interpreted as aggressive," he said.

The American military was not involved in the incident and the Kensington's captain later filed a report with the US Navy describing the event.

On Tuesday, Iranian boats forced a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, the Maersk Tigris, to Iran's Larak Island after firing warning shots across the bow and boarding the vessel.

Iran has said it seized control of the container ship due to a commercial dispute with Denmark's giant Maersk group, which chartered the vessel to ferry cargo in the region. When it was intercepted, the Tigris was traveling on an international shipping route within Iran's territorial waters.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at New York University, said a lawsuit was filed against the ship's owners between 15 and 16 years ago over undelivered cargo.

'Keeping an eye on things'
The US Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Farragut, and a P-3 surveillance aircraft to the area to monitor the Maersk Tigris.

"What they are doing is keeping an eye on things. They are in close enough proximity to the Maersk Tigris that they will be able to respond if a response is required," Warren said.

As the US government had defense and other ties with the Marshall Islands, US officials were "in discussion with the Marshall Islands on the way ahead," he said, without elaborating.

But US officials said privately no military action was imminent.

The maritime incidents coincided with rising tensions in the region over the conflict in Yemen, with a Saudi-led coalition carrying out bombing raids on Iranian-backed Huthi rebels.

The United States is providing intelligence and other logistical help to the Saudis and their partners in the coalition.

Danish shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk said Wednesday that the crew of the Tigris cargo vessel was "safe."

The vessel was operated by Rickmers Ship Management, with head offices in Singapore and Hamburg, and was carrying cargo for the Maersk Line, the Danish group's shipping unit which had chartered the ship.


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