New Delhi: One of three commercial vessels fired upon by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday may have been headed for Gujarat, according to initial shipping data.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards opened fire on the vessels as they transited the strategic waterway, with two ships later seized and at least one sustaining damage, though no casualties were reported.
Of the vessels targeted in the Strait of Hormuz incident Wednesday, container ship Epaminondas was signalling Mundra port in Gujarat as its destination, according to vessel-tracking data from maritime intelligence firm MarineTraffic.
The ship is sailing under the flag of Liberia and is currently located in the Oman Gulf, it said in an 18.30 IST update.
Information on its owner and the cargo it is carrying for was not immediately available.
Ships can and do change course or destination during a voyage, typically due to commercial instructions, weather, congestion, port delays, or security considerations.
Also, vessel-tracking systems rely on AIS (Automatic Identification System) signals, which can be manipulated in some cases. Ships may transmit incomplete, delayed or intentionally altered AIS data to obscure their exact location or intended destination – often referred to as spoofing or signal masking.
Another container ship, MSC Francesca, was indicating Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, while a third vessel, Euphoria, was showing Jeddah as its destination, the data showed.
Tehran said the vessels had violated transit rules or ignored warnings, while maritime sources indicated at least one ship had prior clearance.
At an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia, Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said last week, two Indian vessels attempting to cross the strait were fired upon and had to make a retreat.
This, even as an Indian-flagged crude tanker, Desh Garima, safely transited the Strait of Hormuz April 18 and is expected to reach Mumbai Wednesday, he said.
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) tanker is the 10th India-flagged vessel to have crossed the strait since early March.
In contrast, very large crude carrier Samnar Herad and bulk carrier Jag Arnav reported a firing incident while transiting the strait April 18 and had to return to the Persian Gulf.
Mangal said there are 13 Indian flaged vessels and one Indian owned vessel stranded in the Persian Gulf currently.
He did not share any information Wednesday’s firing incident, as information on Epaminondas’ destination came to be known after the briefing.
Iranian state media quoted the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying that the three vessels, which were fired upon Wednesday, had violated maritime regulations and entered the strategic waterway without coordination.
British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech said the container vessel that came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz was sailing under a Liberian flag and had been informed that it was authorised to transit the waterway.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, however, reported that the vessel had ignored warnings issued by Iranian forces prior to the incident.
The firing followed the seizure of an Iranian commercial vessel by the United States in the Sea of Oman.
The IRGC accused Washington of violating the ceasefire and engaging in armed piracy, alleging that US forces had fired on the Iranian ship and disabled its navigation systems.
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