Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Iranian Navy Temporarily Seizes Vessel, Sparking Persian Gulf Alert

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats Energy Independence

Comments: 0

Iranian naval forces seized a Hong Kong-flagged tanker and redirected the vessel into Iranian waters before releasing it, according to Western and Emirati officials, prompting a warning Tuesday to ships along the Persian Gulf’s key oil export route.

The alert comes amid mounting Iranian assertiveness along the key oil export route, say Western security officials, and as broader regional tensions simmer between Tehran and Saudi Arabia as well as Western powers.

Tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz—near the area where the vessel was held—have been frequently stopped or approached by the Iranian navy in recent months. Over a third of the world’s seaborne oil transits through the Strait.

The vessel “was boarded by armed men” while anchored in the Persian Gulf and taken near the Iranian port of Ras Al Kuh, said the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, which liaises between the British military in the region and commercial shippers.

“Vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise caution,” the UKMTO said.

The tanker was inspected on suspicion that it was about to load smuggled products and was then released, said a Western maritime security official. The Islamic Republic’s navy routinely arrests vessels that carry subsidized Iranian oil which is banned for export.

The vessel’s registered owner, SC Taipei Shipping Co. Ltd. of Singapore, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The redirected vessel had last given its destination as the oil hub of Jubail in Saudi Arabia four days ago but had been anchored and idle ever since, according to shipping data from shipping-tracking website FleetMon.

Until recently, the vessel was run by Chinese company Aoxing Ship Management Shanghai Ltd., according to IHS Maritime, until that company came under U.S. sanctions for the petrochemical products from Iran in March. Aoxing, whose Singapore office is located at the same address at Taipei Shipping, didn’t return a request for comment.

The UKMTO asked shippers to take precautionary measures in the Persian Gulf in January, after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, to which Tehran retaliated with strikes on U.S. forces there. In late March, another vessel was approached by skiffs near the Iranian coastline but managed to escape, it said.

Producers in the region say they fear they could be caught in a broader conflict after Saudi oil facilities were attacked by missiles and drones in September and tankers were struck last summer in the Persian Gulf. Washington and Riyadh have accused Iran of being behind those attacks, which Tehran has denied.

Last summer, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian vessel by the British territory of Gibraltar, only releasing it when Tehran’s vessel was freed.

Photo: Last summer, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker. Tankers have been frequently stopped or approached by the Iranian navy in recent months. - HASAN SHIRVANI/MIZAN NEWS AGENCY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranian-navy-temporarily-seizes-vessel-sparking-persian-gulf-alert-11586898580

Comments RSS feed for comments on this page

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.

Search