LONDON: A UK maritime security agency on Tuesday reported a “potential hijack” on a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, five days after an attack on a tanker left two dead.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations initially reported a “non-piracy” incident on the unnamed ship before upgrading its description.
Maritime security analysts at Dryad Global and Aurora Intelligence identified the endangered ship as the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess.
The MarineTraffic website, which categorises it as an asphalt and bitumen tanker, said it was travelling to Sohar, a port on Oman’s northern coast.
The incident at the opening of the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s busiest waterways — comes days after an attack on an Israeli-linked tanker bound for the UAE, which the United States and its allies blamed on Iran. Two crew members of the Japanese-owned, Liberian-flagged oil tanker, MV Mercer Street, which is managed by a prominent Israeli businessman’s London-based company, were killed in an apparent drone attack, the United States and Israel said.
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