Commandos and officials from the Rock boarded the 300,000 tonne vessel The Grace 1 in the early hours of suspicion of breaching sanctions laid down by the EU. 

It is believed the tanker was transporting crude oil to the Banyas Refinery in Syria. 

The tanker is flagged to Panama and has previously been implicated in illegal transfers to Iran.

Her seizure comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, including a series of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf.

In a statement, chief minister Fabian Picardo confirmed he had given authorisation for the boarding and hailed the work of the “brave” Royal Marines and officials from Gibraltar.

“We have detained the vessel and its cargo.”

Fabian Picardo

Mr Picardo said: “In the early hours of this morning, Gibraltar Port and Law Enforcement agencies, assisted by a detachment of Royal Marines, boarded a super tanker carrying crude oil to Syria.

“We have detained the vessel and its cargo.

“This action arose from information giving the Gibraltar Government reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel, the Grace 1, was acting in breach of European Union sanctions against Syria.

“In fact, we have reason to believe that the Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to the Banyas Refinery in Syria. That refinery is the property of an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions against Syria.”

The EU Syrian Sanctions Regime, established in May 2011, comprises financial, trade and transport sanctions to impact the government of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Its sanctions restrict the Syrian economy in response to violent repression of civilians – which has seen Assad’s forces accused of using chemical weapons.

Syria remains torn apart by war, and is now becoming a proxy conflict as Iran continues to assert influence after the collapse of terror group ISIS. 

The Foreign Office said in a statement: “We welcome this firm action by the Gibraltarian authorities, acting to enforce the EU Syria Sanctions regime.”

The Grace 1 was previously implicated in illegally ferrying oil from Iran to be sold on in Asia – in breach of US sanctions.

It was revealed back in March how the super tanker was one of at least four ships involved in picking up Iranian oil to sold on in Singapore.

Reuters news agency reported Grace 1 turned off her transponder, meaning she could not be tracked – only to then reappear fully loaded near Iran.

She is then said to have transferred her load to another two smaller ships – with shipping documents shows 284,00 tonnes of fuel were transferred.

Mr Picardo said: “I also gave a Direction requiring the Captain of the Port, assisted by the Royal Gibraltar Police and Her Majesty’s Customs to take control of the Grace 1.

“With my consent, our Port and Law Enforcement agencies sought the assistance of the Royal Marines in carrying out this operation.

“As the sanctions being enforced are established by the EU, I have written this morning to the Presidents of the European Commission and Council, setting out the details of the sanctions which we have enforced.

“I want to thank the brave men and women of the Royal Marines, the Royal Gibraltar Police, Her Majesty’s Customs Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Port Authority, for their work in securing the detention of this vessel and its cargo.

“Be assured that Gibraltar remains safe, secure and committed to the international, rules-based, legal order.”

• Royal Navy

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