![[aggregator] downloaded image for imported item #69208](https://newsview.top/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/msc-francesca-epaminondas-hormuz-fox-news-001-1024x576.jpeg "Iran escalates Hormuz 'tit-for-tat,' seizes ship tied to billionaire close to Trump, Macron")
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Tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz April 22 after Iran’s IRGC seized two vessels in what analysts describe as “tit-for-tat” retaliation against the U.S.And one ship is linked to a billionaire shipping family tied to Presidents Donald Trump andEmmanuel Macron.
Video aired onIranianstate TV purportedly shows IRGC soldiers seizing the container ships in the Strait, Reuters said Thursday.
“Some 20 Iranians armed to the teeth stormed the ship.Sailors are under Iranian control, their movements on the ship are limited but the Iranians are treating them well,” a relative of one of the MSC Francesca seafarers toldReuters.
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Soldiers take part in the seizure of the container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas in the Strait of Hormuz, according to footage broadcast on Iranian state TV and released April 22, 2026.(IRIB/Handout/Reuters)
“The ship is anchored 9 nautical miles from the Iranian coast.Negotiations between MSC and Iran are ongoing, our sailors are fine,” Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, Filip Radulovic, told state broadcaster RTCG.
Maritime intelligence firmWindward AIpointed to IRGC “tit-for-tat” tactics given the recent MSC vessel seizure.
This followed a U.S.navalblockade imposed on April 13, with Tehran warning of retaliation after U.S.forces also seized an Iranian vessel.
“TheIRGC attacked three ships.It also captured and took in two of them — the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas — while the Euphoria managed to get away,” Windward AI co-founderIRAN FIRES LIVE MISSILES INTO STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TRUMP ENVOYS ARRIVE FOR NUCLEAR TALKS
Soldiers take part in the operation seizing the container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state TV April 22, 2026.(IRIB/Handout/Reuters)
“This is a ‘tit-for-tat’ exercise by the IRGC, which, along with the Houthis, has long claimedMSC is connected to Israel.
“Aponte, owner and chairman, has a Jewish wife, and MSC calls in Israel;however, so do all major liners.”
Diego Aponte, Gianluigi’s son, had been making “inroads with Trump’s circle,”Bloombergreported April 13.
He also helped arrange a November 2025White Housemeeting with Swiss business leaders that led to a preliminary deal to reduce the 39% tariffs imposed on Switzerland over the summer.
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The MSC executive chairman has been photographed with French President Emmanuel Macron.(Reuters/Stephane Mahe)
Over the last year, MSC’s relationship with the White House also positioned father Gianluigi Aponte as a key player in a $19 billion deal with Li Ka-shing, as MSC and BlackRock moved to acquiretwo Panama Canal portsunder pressure from Trump to place them in “friendly” hands, according to the outlet.
With a net worth of at least $37 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it is Gianluigi Aponte and his wife, Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, who appear to mingle withworld leaders.
The MSC executive chairman and Rafaela have been photographed with French President Emmanuel Macron.
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The Panama-flagged MSC Francesca vessel docked in Long Beach, Calif., April 16, 2025.(Efrain Morales/Reuters)
Rafaela is also reportedly related to Alexis Kohler (his mother is said to be her cousin), who served as Macron’s secretary-general from May 2017 to April 14, 2025, and was described as “Macron’s second brain.”
The Aponte family’s vessel,carrying about 40 crew members, was taken toward Iran’s port of Bandar Abbas by the Iranian navy, sources told Reuters Thursday.
Four crew members, including the captain, are from Montenegro, officials said, while Croatia’s foreign ministry confirmed two Croatian nationals are also aboard.
MSC declined to comment, Reuters confirmed.
onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.
The IRGC Navy claimed both vessels captured “wereoperating without the necessary permits.”
According toLloyd’s List,the 2008-built MSC Francesca “normally operates in service between the U.S.West Coast, Asia and the Middle East Gulf.”
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