The vessel seized near Fujairah earlier this week was reportedly operating as a floating armory for private maritime security contractors, according to maritime security consultancy Vanguard Tech.
The company identified the vessel as the Honduran-flagged MV Hui Chuan, officially listed as a fishing support vessel. According to the report, the ship had been used as an offshore storage platform for weapons, ammunition, and security personnel operating in the Gulf of Oman.
The vessel was reportedly boarded by unauthorized personnel while anchored about 38 nautical miles northeast of Fujairah near the eastern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz. It was later diverted toward Iranian territorial waters before disappearing from AIS tracking systems.
The latest information provides new context to the earlier seizure report, as floating armories play a specialized role in regional maritime security operations. Private security contractors use such vessels to store firearms and equipment offshore between anti-piracy deployments aboard merchant ships transiting high-risk waters.
The model emerged partly as a workaround to strict and inconsistent firearms regulations in regional coastal states, allowing contractors to transfer weapons and personnel at sea instead of transporting them through local ports.
Operations involving floating armories are often highly opaque, and ownership structures are typically difficult to trace. Maritime databases show that MV Hui Chuan was built in 1984, sails under the Honduran flag, and is linked to a Marshall Islands-registered holding company. The same entity reportedly also owns the fishing vessel MV Sunny Ocean.
No official information has been released regarding the identity of the boarding party or the vessel’s current status.
The incident has drawn attention within maritime security circles due to the sensitive nature of floating armory operations and the vessel’s location near the Strait of Hormuz.
