DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Masked Iranian navy commandos conducted a helicopter-borne raid to seize a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, footage aired by Iran's state television showed Friday.
The capture on Thursday of the Turkish-managed, Chinese-owned Advantage Sweet represents the latest seizure by Iran amid tensions with the U.S. over advancing nuclear program.
The footage showed the commandos descending on the deck of the Advantage Sweet by ropes from a hovering helicopter. A photograph showed one commando with his fist in the air after apparently taking the vessel.
Manifest information from data firm Refinitiv showed the tanker carried Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California. Chevron said it was “aware of the situation.”
“We are in contact with the vessel operator with the hope of resolving this situation as soon as possible,” Chevron spokesperson Christine Dobbyn said in a statement.
While Tehran says the tanker was seized over it running into another Iranian vessel, it has provided no evidence yet to support the claim — and the Islamic Republic has taken other ships as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has said the Iranian seizure was at least the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.
“Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” it added.
Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman, just north of Oman's capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had just come from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston.
The Advantage Sweet issued a distress call at 1:15 p.m. while in international waters as Iran seized the vessel, the Navy said.
"Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability," the 5th Fleet said in a statement. “Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”
The Navy initially said Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the vessel, but an American naval aircraft later confirmed that Iran's navy captured the ship, 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins told The Associated Press.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said the seizure came after an “unknown ship collided with an Iranian vessel last night in the Persian Gulf, causing several Iranian crew members to go missing and get injured.” It did not identify the other ship involved in the alleged collision.
The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.
The vessel's manager, a Turkish firm called Advantage Tankers, issued a statement acknowledging the Advantage Sweet was “being escorted by the Iranian navy to a port on the basis of an international dispute.” All the ship's 24 crew members are Indian.
“The safety and welfare of our valued crew members is our No. 1 priority,” the firm said. “Similar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger.”
The ship's listed owner appeared to be a Chinese company.