A suezmax tanker that was at the centre of tit-for-tat vessel seizures between the US and Iran has come to a halt off Texas amid expectations that it is being targeted by federal legal action.

Tracking data from VesselValue shows the Empire Navigation-controlled, 159,000-dwt tanker Suez Rajan (built 2011), which is suspected of carrying a cargo of Iranian origin, is in the Gulf of Mexico.