The seizure was reported by a U.S. defense official who said the ship was sailing from Ajman to Singapore when intercepted.

U.S. military assets tracked the event, with a Navy MQ-4C Triton circling the area for hours as the seizure unfolded.

A Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the Talara, was intercepted by three small Iranian boats while en route from the UAE to Singapore through the Gulf of Oman and diverted toward Iranian shores.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards have seized the Talara, a Cyprus-owned vessel managed by Columbia Shipmanagement and owned by Pasha Finance, steering it toward an Iranian port.

The incident comes amid a volatile maritime security environment as authorities monitor movements and ownership details of the vessel.

Columbia Shipmanagement reported loss of contact with the vessel and is coordinating with authorities to restore contact and ensure crew safety.

Maritime security experts advise commercial vessels to stay vigilant in the Strait of Hormuz and report suspicious activity promptly.

There has been no official Iranian confirmation as of now; historically Iran has seized ships in this area, with notable past actions affecting sanctions leverage.

The United States accuses Iran of physically seizing the vessel in the Hormuz Strait, signaling a possible state-led abduction of a merchant ship.

The seizure fits into broader Hormuz-area tensions, including prior Iranian inspections and related prosecutions tied to past ship seizures.

This marks the first Iranian merchant-ship seizure of 2025 and the latest such action since a 2024 helicopter seizure in international waters.

UKMTO described the incident as a likely ship seizure and noted the operator’s report that contact with the crew was lost about 20 nautical miles off the UAE coast.