https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...iran-h2q85hn6v
Royal Navy frigate ‘on standby’ amid fears Iran could seize oil tanker
Defence chiefs are considering plans to order a Royal Navy frigate escort for a BP oil tanker through the Gulf after Iranian officials threatened to impound British vessels.
British Heritage, a tanker owned by BP Shipping and registered in the Isle of Man, is off the coast of Saudi Arabia after Tehran today repeated the threat, which it first issued last Friday. That was a response to the
detention of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar because of fears it could be used to breach sanctions. The fate of the tanker is now being debated at the highest levels, with the future of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, the world’s most important shipping lane for oil and gas, at stake.
Iran has threatened to close the Strait periodically if its vessels are blocked from trading oil as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to reimpose tight sanctions on it. The United States, Britain and other allies have been equally vehement that the Strait must remain open and said “all options” would be considered to ensure this happened.
HMS
Montrose, a Royal Navy frigate based in Bahrain, is in the Gulf and is understood to have been alerted to a possible operation to “shadow”
British Heritage as it sails. BP and Royal Dutch Shell are both refusing to comment on the vessel’s fate, fearing any escalation in the situation. Vessel tracking websites today showed that
British Heritage was still in the Gulf, well clear of Iranian waters, off the Saudi port of Dammam. A Royal Navy spokesman refused to comment on whether a request for naval protection had been received.......
British officials are said to be in close touch with the US and other allies about the threat to shipping in the region. A firm decision on what to do next has not been made as yet,
The Times understands.......
British Heritage had been due to pick up oil from the Iraqi port of Basra on a contract with Royal Dutch Shell, according to the financial news agency Bloomberg........
Vessel-tracking websites showed that the British Heritage, which was already in the Gulf, changed course on Saturday and failed to dock in Basra. The port, the key node at the head of the Gulf for Iraq’s oil industry, is a few miles from the Iranian border and any shipping that docks there has to skirt Iranian territorial waters. The vessel is reluctant to try to leave the Gulf, which would also mean coming close to Iranian waters. The Strait of Hormuz is only 40 miles across at its narrowest point, with Iranian vessels also present.
Major General Mohammad Bagheri, head of Iran’s armed forces, renewed its threat to British shipping this morning. “Capture of the Iranian oil tanker based on fabricated excuses will not be unanswered and when necessary Tehran will give appropriate answer,” he said.
Separately, the Gibraltar authorities said that tests had confirmed the
Grace 1 was “filled to the brim” with crude oil, discounting other claims that it was carrying fuel oil........