US: Skywave Seized, Celestial Sea Boarded; 91 Vessels Redirected
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that three US officials confirmed US forces seized the US-sanctioned, Iranian-linked oil tanker M/T Skywave (IMO 9328716) between 19 and 20 May after it transited the Strait of Malacca on 14 May. US Central Command separately reported on 20 May that US Marines boarded the Iranian-flagged oil tanker M/T Celestial Sea (IMO 9397030) on suspicion of attempting to reach an Iranian port; US forces released the vessel after searching it and directing it to change course. CENTCOM has now redirected 91 commercial vessels and disabled four since the 13 April blockade on Iranian ports began.
The Skywave was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on 13 March for its role in transporting Iranian oil. Commercially available ship-tracking data showed the Skywave transited the Strait of Malacca on 14 May, then returned to the Indian Ocean on 19 May presumably after being seized. The escalating physical interdiction of Iranian oil shipments — combined with the Monday Amin Exchange + 19-vessel Treasury designation — is the operational side of the coercive-diplomacy posture Vance and Trump articulated this week. The IRGC’s 20 May threat to expand any renewed war “far beyond the region” is the corresponding Iranian deterrent posture; ISW lists three operationalisation channels — terror attacks abroad, Bab el-Mandeb shipping via the Houthis, and intermediate-range ballistic missile strikes (Iran demonstrated nascent 4,000km range against the US-UK Diego Garcia base in March).