New: Ship Captured Near UAE Oil Port Fujairah Now Sailing Into Iranian Waters

The USA/Iran conflict is still simmering, it seems; the mullahs and their minions haven't packed bags and bailed for Moscow yet, nor have the top-tier goblins of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). As a result, things in the Strait of Hormuz haven't gotten any less tense in the last few days. In the latest development, there are reports from several sources, including the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), that an unknown ship has been seized and is heading for Iranian waters. It's not yet clear who seized the ship, but we can probably take a pretty good guess.

A ship off the UAE coast near the Strait of Hormuz has been taken by unknown people and is now headed towards Iranian waters, a UK maritime agency said on Thursday.
The vessel was "taken by unauthorised personnel whilst at anchor" 38 nautical miles or 70 kilometres northeast of Fujairah, and "is now bound for Iranian territorial waters", according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre.
The UKMTO did not identify the vessel or who was behind its capture and said it was investigating. It also advised ships in the area to report any suspicious activity.

A report from Fox News has one additional piece of information that, if true, may make this much more interesting: the ship captured, according to their report, which cites the BBC, may be a "floating armory".

British authorities did not release information on who the ship belonged to or who seized it. Despite the lack of official corroboration, the BBC reported that the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was seized in the Strait on Thursday.
Citing the risk-management company Vanguard, the BBC reported that the ship's operators told Vanguard that the Hui Chuan was operating as a "floating armory" for ships in the Strait to defend themselves from pirates.

The BBC report appears to confirm the identity of the seized ship, but not what was on it or who seized it, despite the ship's operators confirming the "floating armory" part of the story.

BBC Verify has checked ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic which shows the vessel - identified by Vanguard as the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan - last broadcast its location 70km (40 miles) north-east of Fujairah in the UAE on Wednesday.
Hui Chuan's operators told Vanguard it was operating as a floating armoury which stores weapons for security firms who protect ships at sea from attack by pirates.
BBC Verify cannot confirm what was on the ship or who it was used by.

As of this writing, things are still muddled. It's not clear whether or not the ship described by the UKMTO is the Hui Chuan, and it's not confirmed whether the ship now heading to Iranian waters is carrying weapons. If the reports of the captured ship carrying weapons intended to allow ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to fight off pirates, then we can presume that these weapons could range from heavy machine guns to anti-ship rockets; it's unlikely that these would be state-of-the-art smart weapons, but even a machine gun can do a lot of damage to an unarmored merchant ship, or to an aircraft.

Iran Seizes a Tanker and Suffers New Problem - What's Hilarious Is Who That Cargo Belongs To

Again, as of this writing, the Trump administration has yet to comment on this matter. President Trump is currently in China for a round of talks with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In April, Iran did board and capture two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, those being the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, both carrying the Panamanian flag.

This is (as seems so often to be the case where Iran is concerned) a developing story. We'll bring you updates as events warrant.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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