Iranian boats said to fire at Transpetrol tanker

MAY 14, 2015 — Though the U.S. Navy has ceased to accompany merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seems to be as trigger happy as ever.

Five Iranian boats fired shots across the bow of a Singapore flagged cargo vessel, identified as the Alpine Eternity, in the Persian Gulf earlier today, according to a CNN report citing a U.S. official. Five small fast boats, believed to be manned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy approached the cargo vessel.

The Iranian boats fired across the bow, but the cargo vessel turned and escaped by entering into UAE territorial waters. The UAE sent three of its coast guard boats out to the cargo vessel.

According to the Equasis database, Alpine Eternity is a 46,105 dwt chemical/oil product tanker managed by Norway’s Transpetrol AS.