DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy stated Monday its sailors and the United Kingdom Royal Navy came to the help of a ship in the essential Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “harassed” it.
Three fast-attack Guard vessels with armed soldiers aboard approached the merchant ship at a close range Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Navy stated in a declaration. It provided black-and-white images it stated came from a U.S. Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon overhead, which revealed 3 little ships close to the business ship.
The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the Royal Navy’s frigate HMS Lancaster reacted to the occurrence, with the Lancaster releasing a helicopter.
“The scenario deescalated around an hour lateron when the merchant vessel verified the fast-attack craft left the scene,” the Navy stated. “The merchant ship continued transiting the Strait of Hormuz without additional occurrence.”
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, sees 20% of the world’s oil pass through it.
While the Navy did not determine the vessel included, ship-tracking information from MarineTraffic.com examined by The Associated Press revealed the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk provider Venture unpredictably altered course as it tookatrip through the strait at the time of the event. Its area likewise matched info about the occurrence provided by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military operation supervising traffic in the area. The vessel likewise lookedlike the images launched by the Navy.
The ship’s signedup supervisor, Trust Bulkers of Athens, Greece, did not respond to a demand for remark.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news company lat