UK military says ship seized off UAE coast
Iranian forces seized a ship 38 nautical miles off the UAE coast early Thursday, a brazen provocation that came just as President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Beijing to discuss key issues such as the Strait of Hormuz.
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The British Army said that a ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday morning.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Thursday that the ship had been “occupied by unauthorized personnel” while it was about 38 nautical miles north-east of the UAE’s oil export terminal Fujairah.
UKMTO said on Thursday that the ship was seen heading towards Iranian territorial waters after the seizure.
British authorities did not release information about who the ship belonged to or who had seized it. Despite the lack of official confirmation, the BBC reported that the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was seized in the strait on Thursday.
Britain’s maritime agency says small vessel attacks cargo ship near Strait of Hormuz
The ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on May 4. On May 15, a report said a ship had been seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and was being towed towards Iranian waters. (Amirhossein Khorgui/ISNA/AFP)
Citing risk-management company Vanguard, the BBC reported that the ship’s operators told Vanguard that the Hui Chuan was acting as a “floating arsenal” for ships in the strait to protect themselves from pirates.
A container ship sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, on May 2, 2026, while a motorboat passes by. (Amirhossein Khorgui/ISNA via AP)
At least two other ships have already been seized in the Strait of Hormuz since February.
Iran says it has small subs deployed in Strait of Hormuz, as experts describe threat: ‘Identifyingly sensitive’
On April 22, 2026, a cargo ship headed towards the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. (AP photo)
In April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Epaminondas ships in the strait.
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Fox News Digital contacted UKMTO and Vanguard for more information but did not immediately receive a response.
