Vessels Approached and Hailed as Iran Stages Persian Gulf Naval Exercise

Reports coming from the Persian Gulf and the area around the vital Strait of Hormuz indicate that one vessel was approached and others contacted and instructed to alter course toward Iranian territorial waters. The incidents came as Iran highlighted its naval exercises in the region.

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) which coordinates and monitors security in the region issued two warnings on Friday, January 24, while reporting the authorities were investigating. In the first, it reported a vessel was approached while underway approximately 86 nautical miles northeast of Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia. In the second alert issued a short time later, they reported receiving notification of several incidents involving VHF radio challenges to vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf.

The vessel that was approached reported that a small military craft flashed a green laser toward the bridge. The master told UKMTO that they had been instructed to turn towards Iranian territorial waters.

Unconfirmed reports indicate the vessel was the U.S.-flagged Ro-Ro cargo vessel Liberty Power. The vessel’s AIS signal shows that it departed Shuaiba, Kuwait on January 23. The 46,600 dwt vessel built in 2011 as the Jolly Diamante operating for Linea Messina was acquired in 2022 by U.S.-based Liberty Maritime. The vessel was enrolled in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Security Program. MARAD reported the vessel with 220,586 square feet of militarily useful cargo capacity would be used “to deliver vital supplies to support military missions across the globe.”

 

Iran reports it is testing high-speed boats capable of launching missiles (Mehr - CC BY 4.0)

 

UKMTO assesses that both incidents “are most likely” part of the ongoing large-scale exercises being staged this month by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Today’s incident came as Iranian media was hailing the exercise.

In an interview with Iranian TV, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri of the IRGC Navy said, “This exercise demonstrates our ability to establish security in the region… This show of strength of the forces participating in this exercise is a very small portion of the capabilities of the IRGC Navy.”

He reported that speed boats capable of 75 to 90 knots were participating in the exercise. He said they would be using land-to-sea and surface-to-surface missiles demonstrating the capabilities of the speed boats to fire missiles. Iran’s Mehr news agency released pictures of the exercise.