Access the latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory for the week commencing 8th May 2023.

Within the last reporting period Iran has detained a second tanker within the Strait of Hormuz.

👉 A video released by the US 5th Fleet appeared to show about a dozen IRGC fast-attack vessels approaching a tanker that was identified as the Panama-flagged MT NIOVI. This is the second vessel detained within a week, following the detention of the M/T ADVANTAGE SWEET. There are competing reasons given for the detention, with the the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reporting that the seizure was the result of a judicial order, following a complaint by a plaintiff.

TankerTrackers.com are understood to have proposed that the vessel may have been detained as part of a planned operation that saw the vessel potentially complicit in the detention. It is understood that the vessel was unloaded at the time and had been at anchor for a sustained period prior to the detention. Further still, it is understood that the vessel has a prior trading history with Iran. Regardless of reasoning, it is clear that Iran continues to present a risk to vessels connected to states that Iran perceives a grievance.