00:00Big news coming in from West Asia.
00:02Iran has seized two vessels this time.
00:04We are told that allegedly for maritime violations in the Strait of Hormuz.
00:08This is also Iran showcasing its authority there in the Strait.
00:13Two ships were attacked on Wednesday by Iran's paramilitary revolutionary guard
00:16and now are in the force's custody and being taken to Iran.
00:19This is according to the Iranian state television,
00:22identifying the vessels as the MSC Francisca and one more
00:25as well as per the ship tracking data destination.
00:29We are told that it was coming from Dubai.
00:32I want to immediately bring in India Today's Ankit Kumar
00:35who's in fact been tracking all the latest on that.
00:37Ankit, tell us more about the details that are coming in.
00:40What are these ships, if you know their names and why have they been seized?
00:44So there are two container ships.
00:45Both are operated by a Switzerland-based company.
00:49It's a global giant called MSC Shipping.
00:51Earlier today, both were intercepted by IRGC.
00:55IRGC has just issued a statement saying that
00:57they have seized both the vessels because they were trying to cross.
01:03In fact, they had crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
01:05If you see their position.
01:06Right now, the publicly available IRGC shows
01:09that they are only 7 to 8 nautical miles away
01:12from the Iranian shores,
01:14which puts them in the Iranian territory.
01:16So both these commercial ships are now under IRGC control.
01:22One of them, interestingly,
01:24was showing its destination to India's Mudra port.
01:29Okay.
01:30So we don't know if we have reached out to MSC Shipping.
01:33We don't know if there are any Indian crews on board or not.
01:35It was supposed to be reaching Gujarat.
01:37Okay.
01:37And do you think this is about Iran trying to show its authority
01:40because America did it recently.
01:42The American forces also seized some vessels.
01:44So do you think this is what is happening now?
01:45What is interesting is,
01:46if you see the path they were following,
01:49they were crossing very close to the Iranian shores.
01:52So they were following the exact path that IRGC had suggested
01:56for the commercial vessels to use.
02:00So I don't know what kind of miscommunication.
02:04Did they have a prior permission?
02:06Because we have not seen large shipping corporations
02:10trying to cross straight off almost without any permission.
02:13This will be the first such case
02:15where a large commercial vessel
02:19tried to cross the straight without any permission.
02:22Any permission from the Iranian authorities?
02:23From the Iranian authorities.
02:25So do you think India at any point says anything on this
02:27if the destination was Gujarat
02:29or do you think that is not needed right now?
02:31That will depend.
02:32That will depend if there are any Indian crew on board or not.
02:37That will change things.
02:39All right.
02:39Thank you so much.
02:40Ankit Kumar has been constantly tracking all these days
02:42about what is it looking like around the straight off foremost.
02:45So two ships have been seized right now.
02:48But interestingly, again,
02:50were they without permission crossing the straight?
02:52Is it Iran's authority will be tracking that and more?
02:55The situation clearly still tense around the street of Hollywood.
Comments