US Navy denies report Americans have been detained by Iran in the Straight of Hormuz

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said an Iranian "force" seized a US cargo ship in the Gulf on Tuesday and directed it to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The channel said the force had "opened fire" on the US ship, which had 34 US sailors aboard. The US Fifth Fleet in the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain had no immediate comment on the report.

Statements from US officials suggest that there was some kind of confrontation between Iranian forces and a foreign-flagged vessel, but that an American-owned or flagged ship was not involved.

The Pentagon says that Iran fired on a Marshall Islands-flagged ship called the MV Mearsk Tigris and boarded the vessel.

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The US has several vessels deployed in the Persian Gulf, and the USS Farragut, an Burke-class destroyer, reportedly traveled west towards the last known location of the ship as the situation developed:

P/T US mil: USS Farragut traveling vest speed toward last known location of contact b/t cargo ship, Iranian military

- Nancy Youssef, ????? (@nancyayoussef) April 28, 2015

Iranian patrol boats reportedly fired on the Tigris, forcing it deeper into Iranian territorial waters.

The ship belongs to the Mearsk Line, a company based in Copenhagen responsible for 15% of all seaborne freight as of 2011. The vessel is a 750-foot container ship built in 2014, and was reportedly bound for Jebel Ali, outside of Dubai.