{"id":83277,"date":"2026-04-25T17:15:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/83277\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T17:15:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:15:02","slug":"ships-seized-by-iranians-armed-to-the-teeth-along-strait-of-hormuz-have-been-taken-toward-port-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/83277\/","title":{"rendered":"Ships seized by Iranians ‘armed to the teeth’ along Strait of Hormuz have been taken toward port: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two container ships seized by Iranian<\/a> forces\u00a0in the Strait of Hormuz have been taken toward the port of Bandar Abbas along the key waterway, a report said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard claimed on Wednesday that the vessels, identified as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, were\u00a0operating\u00a0without proper authorization and had tampered with navigation systems, accusations that could not be independently verified.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

“Some 20 Iranians armed to the teeth stormed the ship. Sailors are under Iranians’ control, their \u2060movements on the ship are limited, but the Iranians are treating them well,” a relative of a captive onboard one of the ships told Reuters<\/a> on Thursday in relation to one of the seizures.<\/p>\n

The news outlet cited sources as saying that both ships \u2014 which are managed by\u00a0Mediterranean\u00a0Shipping Company (MSC) \u2014 were taken toward Bandar Abbas<\/a>, with a combined 40 crew onboard.<\/p>\n

Live Updates: Us-iran Ceasefire Deal Hangs In The Balance As Israel, Lebanon Slated For Rare Washington Talks<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Panama-flagged MSC Francesca vessel is docked in Long Beach, Calif., on April 16, 2025.<\/p>\n

(Reuters)<\/p>\n

“The ship is anchored nine nautical miles from the Iranian coast. Negotiations between MSC and Iran are ongoing, our sailors are fine,” Filip Radulovic, Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, was quoted by Reuters as telling state television there.<\/p>\n

Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

Before their seizure on Wednesday, the ships reported coming under fire near the strait, underscoring the increasingly volatile conditions in one of the world\u2019s most critical shipping lanes.<\/p>\n

The situation is unfolding after U.S. forces recently seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman as it was approaching Iranian waters Sunday.<\/p>\n

Pentagon Warns Of 6-Month Timeline To Clear Iranian Mines From Strait Of Hormuz: Report<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Soldiers<\/p>\n

Soldiers take part in the operation seizing container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state TV on April 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

That vessel, the Touska,<\/a> remains in U.S. custody as American forces continue inspecting what maritime security sources told Reuters is likely “dual-use” cargo \u2014 materials that can serve both civilian and military purposes \u2014 following a voyage from Asia.<\/p>\n

The U.S. military is also continuing to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Epaminondas container ship is seen in Naples, Italy, on March 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

So far, U.S. forces have redirected 33 vessels since the start of the blockade against Iran, U.S. Central Command said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital\u2019s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Ships seized by Iranians ‘armed to the teeth’ along Strait of Hormuz have been taken toward port: report<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two container ships seized by Iranian forces\u00a0in the Strait of Hormuz have been taken toward the port…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[10614,2566,28295,102,34,28754,1173,101],"class_list":{"0":"post-83277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-strait-of-hormuz","8":"tag-bandar-abbas","9":"tag-container-ships","10":"tag-epaminondas","11":"tag-hormuz","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-msc-francesca","14":"tag-revolutionary-guard","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116466478533239823","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}