Iran: Cargo ship seized under court order

Iranian maritime authorities said on Wednesday that Iran seized a ship carrying cargo for Denmark's giant Maersk group under a legal ruling over a longstanding commercial dispute.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards intercepted the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel Maersk Tigris on Tuesday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf.

The Iranian Port and Maritime Organisation, in a statement, said the vessel was intercepted "upon a legal order" and transferred to Shahid Bahonar port in southern Iran.

The ruling was "based on a lawsuit by a private company called Pars Talayieh Oil Product company (Golden Pars Oil Products) against Maersk ship company," it said.

"This lawsuit has been ongoing in legal courts in recent years and the competent court has issued the ruling" after having heard from both sides in the dispute.

It said Maersk was ordered to pay financial damages in what was a purely commercial case with no political dimensions. The ship can only be released "upon a judicial ruling", it said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at New York University, said a lawsuit was filed against the ship's owners between 15 and 16 years ago over an undelivered cargo.

"It has gone through court proceedings in Tehran based on what I hear from the lawyer. The final decision by the court is that the ship's owners are supposed to pay damages," he said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the action was taken "in conformity with international regulations".

"We hope that once the financial dispute has been resolved the ship can resume its journey," she said in a statement received by AFP.

She said the 24 crew members -- mostly from eastern Europe and Asia -- were "in good health" and there were no restrictions on consular access.

Pars Talayieh, a private company which deals primarily in oil derivatives, was unavailable for comment on the case.

In October 2012, Maersk announced a halt to its activities in Iran after Western oil and financial sanctions were slapped on the country over its controversial nuclear programme.

The ship was operated by Rickmers Ship Management, with head offices in Singapore and Hamburg, and was carrying cargo for Maersk Line, the group's shipping unit which had chartered the vessel.

A spokesman for the Danish group said the Maersk Tigris does not belong to the company and it does not employ the crew.

The shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk also said Wednesday that the crew was safe but it remained tight-lipped about any commercial dispute.

Iranian military ships fired across the bow of the Maersk Tigris when its captain initially refused a demand to head towards Iranian territory, prompting the US Navy to dispatch a destroyer to "monitor" the situation, officials said.

The seizure came against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Gulf, fuelled by the Yemen conflict and high-stakes diplomacy between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme.