MV ''Maersk Ganges'' is a Marshall Islands-registered

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

. Completed in 2014, the ship is long, wide with a gross tonnage of 51,872.

2015 seizure

On 28 April 2015, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy intercepted and seized the ship, then sailing as ''Maersk Tigris'', while it was transiting through Iranian territorial waters via the

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' , ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategica ...

. An initial instruction by the IRGC Navy to the ''Maersk Tigris'' to proceed further into Iranian territorial waters was not complied with, after which the Iranian Navy fired a warning shot across the bridge of the ship. The ship was then taken into Iranian custody. Given that the vessel is flagged under the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

, which the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

bears security responsibility for, the U.S. Navy dispatched the destroyer USS ''Farragut'' after receiving a distress call from the ''Maersk Tigris''. The vessel's charterer, the Danish shipping company

Maersk (), usually known simply as Maersk ( ), is a Danish Freight transport, shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller. Maersk's business activities include Port operator, port operat ...

, said Iran's seizure of a commercial vessel engaged in innocent passage through Iran's territorial waters in the internationally recognized shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz was illegal. Maersk said it presumed the ship was detained because of an ongoing court case between

Maersk Line Maersk Line is a Danish international container shipping company and the largest operating subsidiary of Maersk, a Danish business conglomerate. Founded in 1928, it is the world's second largest container shipping company by both fleet size ...

and an Iranian company, but that Iran erred not only by failing to engage in normal protocol for arresting a ship, but by seizing property and personnel that do not belong to Maersk. The ship is chartered by Maersk Line and Maersk owns the ship's containers, but the ship itself is owned by Wide Golf Ltd, registered in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and is managed by Singapore-based Rickmers Shipmanagement. On 29 April 2015, Maersk said it had been informed by the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization that an Iranian court had ordered it to pay $3.6 million in compensation to an Iranian company for the loss of 10 of its containers Maersk Line had shipped to Dubai in January 2005. In February 2015, an appeals court in Tehran ordered Maersk Line to pay the Iranian company $163,000. The Iranian company then appealed the case, seeking more money, which led to the $3.6 million judgment. Maersk said it had only learned on April 30 of the Iranian appeals court $3.6 million ruling, but that it had "not received any written or formal confirmation that the seizure and the cargo case are connected. According to maritime consultant William Watson, when an entity has a financial claim against a vessel's owners, the claimant can arrest the vessel when it is in port or at anchor. But in his decades in the maritime industry, he had never seen such a seizure carried on open seas. On 7 May 2015, Iran released the ''Maersk Tigris''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maersk Tigris 2014 ships Cargo ships of the Marshall Islands Maritime incidents in 2015 International maritime incidents Iran–United States relations Ships of the Maersk Line