By Jonathan Saul
LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was boarded and seized by U.S. forces on Sunday, is likely to have what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military onboard, maritime security sources said on Monday.
The small container ship, which is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) group that has been hit with U.S. sanctions, was boarded on Sunday off the coast of Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 1308 GMT, according to ship-tracking data on the Marine Traffic platform.
The U.S. Central Command said Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, and that the vessel was in violation of a U.S. blockade.
The security sources, who declined to be identified, said their initial assessments were the vessel was likely to be carrying dual-use items after a voyage from Asia.
They did not go into details on the items. U.S. Central Command has listed metals, pipes and electronic components among other goods that could have a military as well as an industrial use and could be captured.
Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s military said the ship had been travelling from China and accused the U.S. of “armed piracy”, according to state media on Monday. They said they were ready to confront U.S. forces over the “blatant aggression”, but were constrained by the presence of crew members’ families on board.
Washington imposed sanctions on IRISL in late 2019, describing it as “the preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents”, which included transporting items intended for Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
The Touska’s crew includes an Iranian captain and Iranian crew members, although it was not clear if the entire crew were Iranian nationals, one of the sources said.
IRISL ships are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards and their crew are typically made up mainly of Iranians and sometimes also use Pakistani seafarers, two other sources added.
The vessel was detected alongside at China’s Taicang port, which is north of Shanghai, on March 25 and arrived at China’s southern Gaolan port on March 29-30, according to satellite analysis from data analytics specialists SynMax.
The vessel loaded containers onboard in Gaolan and then made a stop around the Port Klang anchorage in Malaysia on April 11-12 where it loaded further containers, according to SynMax analysis.
The vessel was laden with containers onboard when it reached the Gulf of Oman on Sunday.
China has expressed concern over the “forced interception” by the U.S. of the Iranian-flagged cargo ship, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, urging relevant parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement in a responsible manner.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on the Truth Social platform on Sunday that the Touska was under U.S. sanctions due to its “prior history of illegal activity”, adding that U.S. forces were “seeing what’s on board”.
The U.S. military widened its shipping blockade on Iran to include cargoes deemed contraband and any vessels suspected of trying to reach Iranian territory will be “subject to belligerent right to visit and search”, the U.S. navy said in an advisory on Thursday.
Contraband included weapons and ammunition.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
