A fuel tanker headed for Singapore lost contact with its managers in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday morning, raising concerns that it had been seized by Iran.
The British maritime authorities said the vessel, which was flying a Marshall Islands flag, was last seen “transiting toward Iranian territorial waters,” and the “incident is believed to be state activity.” It did not specify who or what might have been behind the tanker’s diversion toward Iran.
Hours later, Telegram channels affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said the country’s naval forces had seized a ship with the Marshall Islands flag heading from Dubai to Singapore on grounds that it had entered Iranian waters. Iranian officials have not publicly commented on the tanker.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia, said in a statement on Friday that it was “aware of the incident” and “actively monitoring the situation.” It added that “commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation,” but did not say whether a state actor had seized the tanker.
The vessel, called the Talara, is roughly 750 feet long and 105 feet wide, according to marine traffic records. It was traveling from the United Arab Emirates when contact was lost on Friday morning.
The tanker is managed by Columbia Shipmanagement, a maritime firm based in Cyprus. The ship’s managers said it had “notified the relevant authorities” and was working to “restore contact with the vessel,” which was carrying a cargo of high sulfur gas oil, which is used primarily as fuel for marine vessels.
Iran has periodically seized tankers transiting through the Persian Gulf, but it has been more than a year since the country has seized a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. In the past, Iran has interdicted vessels for various reasons: retaliating after one of its own tankers had been seized, claiming the tankers had encroached Iran’s waters or accusing the vessels of carrying smuggled oil.
Iran has also long threatened to shut off the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow 90-mile waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that is a crucial global shipping route. A quarter of the world’s oil and 20 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas passes through the strait, which has become a source of geopolitical tension.
Iran has been increasingly isolated globally and facing dire water and power shortages, along with a staggering budget deficit. Its network of regional proxy militias have been severely weakened, and, in June, the country’s military chain of command was decimated in a war against Israel that the United States joined by bombing Iran nuclear sites.
Iran has also been choked by renewed United Nations sanctions for failing to cut back its nuclear program.
Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.
Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
The post Fuel Tanker Diverted in Strait of Hormuz, Raising Fears of Iranian Seizure appeared first on New York Times.
