Ankit Panda, The Diplomat: What Really Happened in the Persian Gulf on April 28, 2015?
Iran’s navy has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, the MV Maersk Tigris.
A 65,000 ton, Danish-owned, Singapore-chartered, container ship, en route to the United Arab Emirates from Saudi Arabia, manned mostly by Eastern European and Asian sailors, is intercepted, boarded, and confiscated by the Iranian navy, prompting a U.S. destroyer to investigate.*
That wasn’t an anecdote from Tom Friedman’s next book on globalization–it’s a rough description of what took place on Tuesday, April 28, in the strategically important sea lanes of the Strait of Hormuz.
Allow me to get into the details:
WNU Editor: Everything is still in flux .... but Iran's decision to seize this vessel has certainly raised tensions in the Persian Gulf, and in the Straits of Hormuz specifically.
Update: This is worrisome .... the U.S. and Iranian navies are positioning themselves for a fight .... Hot Water: Iran and the U.S. Navy Are Poised for a Fight (Micah Halpern, New York Observer).
Apparently the Iranians intercepted and harassed another one just recently.
ReplyDeleteI reckon that since Iran has been shut out of Yemen, this is how they are repaying the West. By harassing various ships and nations, some countries and peoples will put pressure on the U.S. to let up on the embargo against Yemen. This may just work since the West doesn't want another fight, especially against Iran.
ReplyDeleteMy preference is to negotiate hard, but fairly.
ReplyDeleteWith Obama as president and Kerry as a punching bag at diplomatic meetings, it is not going to happen.
As such I prefer war.
This looks like a repeat of the 1930s, but at least FDR was smart enough to gear up. Obama is just freaking clueless.
"We’ve since learned, thanks to Reuters that the Tigris’ has a crew of 24, most of whom hail 'from Eastern Europe and Asia.'"
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks God we don't have to do anything.
It is not like they were American. They are just European and Asians. Nothing to see here or care about.
I guess some people are satisfied if enough stuff gets on the store shelves and that is it.
I found this interesting. Has anyone heard much on this? I checked out splash247 and they seem to be a steady shipping media source.
ReplyDeletehttp://splash247.com/rickmers-shipmanagement-denies-iranian-claims-over-maersk-tigris-seizure/
David
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't read it.
Someone posted that link in the comments section of the Diplomat.
Unless the holding company that controls the Maersk shipping line also controls Rickmers I don't see what the Iranians are doing.
Even if they did, what they are doing is wrong.
So some Iranian company has a lien (legit?) against Rickmers , so the Iranian government thinks it can seize a vessel managed, but not owned by Rickmers.
ReplyDeleteThis all makes sense in a warlord type of world, which apparently where we are headed, and those dumbclucks Kerry and Obama a did not get the memo.
Worked back in Canada in the 70's.
DeleteOttawa printer stiffed on a $345 dollar bill for a printing job ordered by the Soviet Embassy, went to court, got a Court order, and had the Montreal Police and Canadian Coast Guard seize a Soviet Grain Freighter.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, for a while, everybody was seizing Soviet freighters for unpaid bills.
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/09/us/taiwan-ship-seized-on-coast-for-unpaid-fuel-bill.html
Googling "ship seized unpaid bills" pulls up stories, world wide, even Steve Job's Megayacht,
ReplyDeleteBut the funniest one was a Singaporean PDF, laying out the force structure and protocols for the Singapore Admiralty Sheriff. Ships skipping out on bills is apparently so common, that the Singapore Government has a specialized 30 man force with fast patrol ships and a helecopter, to go after and seize welchers.
I forgot about the Soviet grain ships. That was embarrassing back in the old country.
ReplyDeleteWNU Editor,
DeleteThe "huffing and puffing" over this, from my perspective, is just hilarious.
Over a certain dollar value, the first thing I do, after the Contract is signed, is take out a Tradesman Lien against the Property Title.
At the end of the job, if they pay the bill, I remove the lien.
If they try to screw my Companies on the bill, well, when they go to sell, or refinance, they have to settle the bill first.
Learned that lesson the first year, the hard way.