(PatriotWise.com) — On Monday, the US Navy revealed that the ships from the US and UK navies responded to a distress signal from a ship in the Strait of Hormuz which reported being “harassed” by vessels from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Associated Press reported.
According to a statement from the US Navy, three IRGC fast-attack vessels with armed fighters approached the merchant ship on Sunday afternoon.
The Navy destroyer USS McFaul and the frigate HMS Lancaster from the Royal Navy responded to the distress call.
The Navy released still photos of the incident taken from surveillance video filmed from a Boeing P-8 Poseidon overhead.
According to the Navy, the situation de-escalated with the merchant vessel confirming that the IRGC vessels departed the scene about an hour later. The merchant ship was able to continue through the strait without further incident.
The Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf is a crucial waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.
While the Navy did not name the merchant vessel involved in Sunday’s incident, based on ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com, the Associated Press concluded that the likely target of the IRGC attack was the bulk carrier Venture, which sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
The location of the Venture matched the details provided by the UK Maritime Trade Operations, an operation run by the UK military to oversee traffic in the Gulf. The data from MarineTraffic.com shows the Venture changing course erratically as it traveled through the Strait of Hormuz at the time the incident took place.
According to the Iranian state-run news agency IRNA, IRGC Rear Admiral Abbas Gholamshahi claimed that the fast-attack vessels were in the area responding to the ship’s distress signal.
But according to the Navy, the distress signal was sent in response to the IRGC vessels.
Copyright 2023, PatriotWise.com
