Factbox: Iran tanker crisis shows that Britain no longer rules the waves


  • World
  • Monday, 22 Jul 2019

Crew members of Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel owned by Stena Bulk, are seen on the ship in Bandar Abbas port, Iran, July 21, 2019. PFars News Agency/WANA/Handout via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's failure to prevent Iran's Revolutionary Guards from seizing a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz shows the decline of the once mighty British navy.

The navy, which has one frigate and four mine sweepers in the Gulf, is now far too small to fulfil its global role, according to Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister.

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