The United States plans to expand the escorting services of the US Navy in the Strait of Hormuz to allied nations’ ships, one of the countries being the UK.
As informed, the talks are underway with countries who would like to seek protection of their vessels.
The US Navy said last week that it would start accompanying US-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz prompted by two incidents in which Iranian navy patrol vessels “harassed commercial motor vessels traversing the strait.”
On April 24, four Iranian patrol boats approached the U.S.-flagged merchant ship Maersk Kensington, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said during an April 29 briefing.
“The boats came astern of the Kensington and followed her for 15 or 20 minutes in actions that the Kensington’s master interpreted as aggressive,” he added.
The incident was followed by the seizure of Marshal Islands-flagged Maesk Tigris containership by Iran’s patrol boats on April 28th, which still remains under detention.
According to Iranian authorities, the move has not been politically motivated but has to do with an outstanding debt of Maersk Line, charterer of the vessel.
Washington officials said the navy will keep a close eye on its commercial vessels but would not carry out a full-fledged escort.
Any U.S.-flagged ship can ask to be accompanied by Navy warships through the narrow strait, Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said.
So far, the US Navy accompanied four American-flagged ships and a British vessel moving through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf on Thursday, Bloomberg reports citing US defense officials.
According to Warren, the four U.S. ships belonged to the Navy’s Military Sealift Command or were contract vessels with civilian crews on board.
About 20-25 US-flagged ships pass through the strait each month.
The decision on accompanying ships is said to be resumed for an indefinite period of time.
The U.S. Navy has 11 vessels in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf that could immediately accompany vessels — five patrol craft, four destroyers, one cruiser and one minesweeper, Bloomberg writes.
World Maritime News Staff