{"text":[[{"start":11.1,"text":"A ship has been seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and has been heading towards Iranian waters, according to a monitoring group led by the UK’s Royal Navy. "}],[{"start":20.799999999999997,"text":"The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre did not identify the vessel but said it had been anchored 38 nautical miles north-east of Fujairah, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, when it was taken by “unauthorised personnel”. "}],[{"start":34.349999999999994,"text":"According to three people with knowledge of the situation, the vessel seized was the Honduras-flagged fishery research vessel Hui Chuan. "}],[{"start":41.849999999999994,"text":"One of them said a security officer with the ship’s operator described the small ship as a floating armoury — such vessels are often used to store and transport weapons for the guards who protect cargo ships from pirate attacks in unsafe areas. "}],[{"start":57.349999999999994,"text":"Shipping in the Gulf has been severely disrupted since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran, with the Islamic regime slowing the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz close to a standstill. "}],[{"start":69.5,"text":"The US has imposed its own naval blockade to prevent ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, with the warring parties locked in a stand-off amid a fragile ceasefire. "}],[{"start":79.65,"text":"There was no immediate Iranian reaction to the latest report of a vessel being taken, but Iranian state television cited a Revolutionary Guards’ navy official as saying that more than 30 vessels had crossed the strait since last night in co-ordination with Iranian naval forces the guards. "}],[{"start":96.80000000000001,"text":"Fars news agency meanwhile reported that an unspecified number of Chinese vessels were authorised to transit the strait from Wednesday night as requested by China, based on the “strategic partnership” between Tehran and Beijing. "}],[{"start":109.70000000000002,"text":"One of the ships passing through the strait was a large Chinese oil tanker — only the third of that size to have transited since the start of the conflict — in a move analysts interpreted as a gesture of goodwill towards China ahead of President Xi Jinping’s meeting with US President Donald Trump."}],[{"start":124.70000000000002,"text":"Iran has attacked ships in the strait during the war and in April it said it seized two container vessels that were trying to transit the chokepoint, a key waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes. "}],[{"start":137.85000000000002,"text":"Negotiations are ongoing for the release of those two vessels, said people familiar with the situation."}],[{"start":143.50000000000003,"text":"Before the latest Iranian announcement on Thursday, the number of ships passing through the strait had dropped from 40 in the week to May 3 down to 18 in the week to May 10, including transits where ships did not turn on their GPS signals, according to Lloyd’s List. Before the war there were about 135 transits a day."}],[{"start":164.75000000000003,"text":"A large Japanese oil tanker, the Eneos Endeavour, passed through the strait on Wednesday night, according to ship tracking data. Eneos confirmed the identity of the ship, which is destined for the Japanese terminal of Kiire, to the FT. "}],[{"start":177.95000000000002,"text":"Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X that it was “a positive development” and left 39 Japanese ships still blocked in the Gulf."}],[{"start":188.4,"text":"Diplomats fear the conflict could be moving into a new escalatory phase after mediation efforts to broker a framework deal to reopen the strait and end the war floundered. "}],[{"start":198.65,"text":"Trump said on Monday that the month-long US ceasefire with Iran was “on massive life support” after he rejected Tehran’s counterproposal for an agreement. "}],[{"start":207.95000000000002,"text":"Mediation efforts, led by Pakistan, have struggled to narrow wide gaps between the warring parties over a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme and overcome deep distrust between the foes. "}],[{"start":219.3,"text":"Iran also wants to impose a fee on ships transiting the strait, which the US rejects. "}],[{"start":225.20000000000002,"text":"Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo"}],[{"start":234.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778802191_8838.mp3"}