P&O axes cruises to Dubai over fears Iran will attack tourist ships in the Persian Gulf after oil tanker seizures
P&O CRUISES has cancelled its cruises around Dubai and the Persian Gulf over fears that its British ships could become targets for Iran as tensions escalate in the region.
The popular cruise line said it decided to call off all trips in the Arab region from October until at least March next year amid the standoff between Britain and Iran over oil tanker seizures.
Some ship owners have begun to see their associations with the UK as a potential risk when sailing in the Persian Gulf.
The P&O ship in the Persian Gulf, Oceana, flies the Red Ensign, a red flag with the Union Jack in its top-left corner.
The protection of civilian ships has also been under increased focus.
Britain announced this week it was joining a US-led naval mission to protect civilian ships in the Persian Gulf.
THIRD TANKER SEIZED IN ONE MONTH
The announcement comes after Iran seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf last week, in what would be the third such seizure in a month amid heightened tensions.
The "surprise attack" was near tiny Farsi Island, half way between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claim they seized the ship because it was carrying around 700,000 litres of smuggled fuel.
Seven foreign crew members were arrested in the operation carried out last Wednesday night, said Fars news agency, which is considered close to the Guards.
Tensions between arch-enemies Iran and the US have soared this year after Washington stepped up its campaign of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Ships have been attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized since May, a year after the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran.
At the height of the crisis, US President Donald Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone.
Boris Johnson ordered the Royal Navy to accompany all British-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in an escalation of the Iran crisis.
The seizure of the latest tanker would be the third by Iran in less than a month in Gulf waters - a conduit for much of the world's crude oil.
On July 18, the Guards said they had detained the Panama-flagged for MT Riah for alleged fuel smuggling.
And a day later, they announced they had impounded the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules".
The seizure of the Stena Impero came two weeks after Royal Marines seized a supertanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria on July 4.
The 23 crew members of the Stena Impero are still being held by Iran.
TANKER ROW
The oil tanker Grace 1 was detained on suspicion it was breaking European sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
Three Iranian boats also tried to seize a BP oil tanker as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday July 10.
Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose - which was escorting the tanker through the flashpoint region - was forced to sail in front of the boats.
After quickly training its 30mm deck guns on the enemy boats, deploying its Wildcat helicopter and issuing a radio warning, the Iranian boats scarpered.
HMS Duncan was then deployed to patrol the busy shipping lane as all UK flagged vessels were put on the highest security alert level.
But an Iranian bomb boat was found in its path, meaning the HMS Duncan could have been destroyed by the unmanned attack ship packed with explosives, the Mirror reports.
Iran had earlier been blamed for a series of devastating sea mine attacks on US-linked oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has been squaring up to the West as it reels over the scrapping of the so-called nuclear deal by the US.
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