Iran says it has captured two British oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz today, causing alarm in the UK. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard took control of the Stena Impero for “violating international maritime rules” according to Iranian state media. The Impero’s owners Stena Bulk confirmed the ship was lost to their radar at 4pm on Friday, when it was approached by “unidentified small crafts and a helicopter”.
Were there British citizens on board the ship captured by Iran?
According to Stena Bulk, there were 23 seafarers aboard the vessel when it was captured.
The company said the safety of their crew was paramount, and they had received no reports of injury to the ship’s workers.
According to British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, those aboard the ship consisted of a “range of nationalities”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was “concerned” by the latest actions from Iran, but confirmed there were no British citizens on board.
He said in a statement: “I’m extremely concerned by the seizure of two naval vessels by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I will shortly attend a COBR meeting to review what we know and what we can do to swiftly secure the release of the two vessels – a British-flagged vessel and a Liberian-flagged vessel.
“Their crews comprise a range of nationalities, but we understand there are no British citizens on board either ship.”
“Our ambassador in Tehran is in contact with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the situation and we are working closely with international partners.
“These seizures are unacceptable.
“It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region.”
Donald Trump also took the opportunity to weigh in on the situation, saying the US will “work with the UK”.
He said: “We have a very close alliance with the UK and we have always had. We have heard what happened.
“The US has very few tankers going in because we are using our own energy now.
“We made a lot of progress over the last two and a half years, so we don’t have a lot of tankers there but we have a lot of warships there.
“And we will talk to the UK and we have no written agreement but we have an agreement, they have been a great ally of us so…we have heard about it, we have heard about one and we have heard about two, so we will work with the UK.
“They will have a new Prime Minister soon, which is a good thing, we don’t have a written agreement but we have an agreement which I think is long-standing.”