The U.S. Navy announced today, Wednesday, that it prevented an attempt by the Iranian Navy to seize two commercial tankers traversing international waters in the Gulf of Oman. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, stated that "the Iranian ship fired shots during the second attempt to seize the vessels." On July 5, U.S. forces thwarted two attempted seizures of commercial tankers by the Iranian Navy after the Iranians opened fire in one incident near the coast of Oman. Both incidents occurred in international waters.
According to the U.S. Navy, an Iranian naval ship approached the oil tanker "TRF Moss," which is registered under the Marshall Islands, while it was sailing in international waters in the Gulf of Oman. The Iranian ship left the scene as the U.S. destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) arrived, and the Navy deployed MQ-9 Reaper and P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft.
The U.S. Navy noted that Iran had seized two oil tankers within a week about a month ago. Approximately one-fifth of global oil shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from Fortexa analytics. Ship tracking data from Refinitiv shows that the Richmond Voyager previously docked in Ras Tanura, eastern Saudi Arabia, before the incident on Wednesday in the Gulf. A Chevron spokesperson stated that "there were no losses of life, injuries, or cargo losses" on board the Richmond Voyager. The spokesperson added in a statement, "the ship is operating normally. The safety of our crew is our top priority."
