The vessels were ordered to move away from their positions as Washington and Tehran intensify their stand-off over the waterway
The US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near
India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday.
Washington has imposed a blockade on Iran’s trade by sea while Iran has fired on ships to prevent them sailing through the Strait of Hormuz waterway at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf. Nearly two months after the US and Israel began their war on Iran, there is little sign of peace talks resuming during an uneasy ceasefire.
The closure of the strait has disrupted supply of a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies, and caused a global energy crisis. US forces have seized an Iranian cargo ship and an oil tanker in recent days. Iran said it had captured two container ships seeking to exit the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after firing on them and another vessel, its first seizures since the war began.
The US has diverted at least three more Iranian-flagged oil tankers in recent days, two US and Indian shipping sources and two separate Western maritime security sources said on Wednesday.
The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the interceptions.
One of the vessels was the Iranian-flagged Deep Sea supertanker, which was part loaded with crude and last seen on its public tracking transponder off Malaysia’s coast a week ago, according to the sources and ship tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform.
The smaller Iranian-flagged Sevin, which had a maximum capacity of 1 million barrels and was carrying 65 per cent of its load, was also intercepted. The vessel was last seen off Malaysia’s coast a month ago, ship tracking data showed.