Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized a product tanker after it left the Khor Al Zubair port in Iraq loaded with 1,500 tonnes of gas oil.
As per information received, the tanker in question is the Togo-flagged Betelgeuse. The vessel is owned by the Marshall Islands-based company Madrigal Marine.
The owner’s representative, Ahmad Al Sharif, stated that some 24 hours after it left the port the vessel went missing and that there was no contact with the vessel. It went missing in the Arabian Gulf some 105 km off Bushehr, Iran.
The company was contacted today by one of the crew members and was informed that both the 1987-built vessel and its 12-strong crew were taken.
The crewman stated that the members of the IRGC boarded the tanker with weapons and ordered the captain to shut off AIS. The vessel is currently sailing and is under orders to sail to Bushehr port.
According to an additional update from Al Sharif, the gas oil is now being offloaded in the Iranian port while the crew of the vessel is being taken to jail.