The United Nations on Thursday suspended its evacuation plan for ships stranded in the Persian Gulf after a cargo ship was struck by a “projectile” as it exited the Strait of Hormuz.
Senior U.S. officials said the ship was attacked by Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a bid to assert its control over international shipping through the vital waterway.
Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen said on Friday that its cargo ship Ever Lovely, owned by an Evergreen subsidy in Singapore, was struck by a projectile on Thursday as it passed 3.6 nautical miles off Oman’s coastal island of Khawr Naiwah.
The Ever Lovely had been trapped in the Persian Gulf for over 100 days before it loaded cargo from Iraq’s port of Umm Qasr and set course for Singapore on Thursday morning flanked by three other ships.
The commercial vessels were all following the safe course along the coast of Oman recommended by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMOT) center. UKMTO also reported the incident, as did the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, which denounced the attack as “unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law.”
Evergreen said the ship suffered damage near its bridge windows, but the hull remained seaworthy, the engines were functioning normally, and the crew was unhurt.
The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Thursday paused its plan for clearing up the shipping and tanker bottleneck created by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March, although IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez noted that the Ever Lovely was not involved in its operation.
“I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which passed through the Strait of Hormuz. This vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework,” said Dominguez.
“I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained,” he said.
Two senior U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday that the IRGC attacked the Ever Lovely with a one-way attack drone, whose maneuvers before detonating suggested a deliberate and premeditated strike on the ship intended to cause terror without inflicting severe damage or casualties.
The attack took place only a few hours after the IRGC asserted its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, rejected the IMO’s evacuation plan, and ordered three tankers using the IMO route to turn back from the strait. The IRGC said it would be “unacceptable and dangerous” for any ships to follow the IMO’s guidance without permission from Iran.
Iran issued a belligerent statement on Friday challenging the “interventionist, irresponsible, and provocative” statement by the United States and its Gulf allies that Tehran would never be allowed to collect tolls, fees, or ransoms from international shipping.
The joint statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stressed “the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” and asserted that “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation, including the right of transit passage as guaranteed under international law, remains essential to regional and global security.”
The joint statement explicitly rejected “any tolls, fees, or attempts to assert control over the Strait,” and welcomed Oman’s support for the IMO evacuation plan.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account,” responded Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
Iranian state television later reported on the three ships turning back from their “unauthorized passage” through the Strait of Hormuz after the IRGC’s terrorist attack.