Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards intercepted the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel Maersk Tigris yesterday 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.
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.
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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.
A spokesman for the Danish group said the Maersk Tigris does not belong to the company and the 24-member crew are not its employees.
The Danish shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk said that the crew was safe but 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.