MV Maersk Tigris, departing from the port of Jebel Ali and heading towards Larak Island, was passing through international waters a few hours ago when she was approached by five Iranian patrol boats. The military ordered the captain to veer towards Iranian territorial waters for further checks. At the captain's refusal, the patrol boats opened fire on the boat.
The crew, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, surrendered to the Iranians who boarded the boat seized the boat. Some crew members, made up of thirty sailors, would be injured. Shortly before surrendering to the Iranians, the captain of the freighter launched a distress signal to the regional command of the US Naval Forces who received the SOS.
The Pentagon immediately ordered the Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer, the USS Farragut, which was in the area to intercept the convoy. Also launch UAV surveys to monitor the situation that could degenerate in the next few hours. From the Pentagon they said that it is the duty of the US to defend the Marshall Islands, but it is understood that the warship will not enter Iranian waters. The seized freighter is en route to Bandar Abbas, the largest base in the Iranian Navy.
In the region, the United States has about thirty ships and at least four attack submarines.
The Marshall Islands are an independent and sovereign state, but entrust their defense to the United States.
This action could be a response to the US naval operation last week, when an entire battle group would trace a convoy of Iranian ships heading for the Gulf of Aden, presumably to deliver weapons to the Houthi rebels.
Franco Iacch
(in the picture the USS Farragut - US Navy)
