DUBAI -Two team members, a Briton and a Romanian, were eliminated when a petroleum items tanker handled by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime came under attack on Thursday off Oman’s coast, the business stated on Friday.
London-based Zodiac stated on its site that the attack in the Arabian Sea on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged Japanese-owned ship, was still being examined.
Earlier on Friday, it had actually explained the occurrence as presumed piracy however the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which offers maritime security info, states it was not piracy.
“Details of the incident are still being established and an investigation into the incident is currently underway. We continue to work closely with the UKMTO and other relevant authorities,” stated Zodiac, which is owned by the rich Israeli Ofer household.
It stated it was “not aware of harm to any other personnel” than the British and Romanian team members who were eliminated.
The UKMTO stated the vessel had to do with 152 nautical miles (280 km) northeast of the Omani port of Duqm when it was assaulted. It provided say goodbye to information on the kind of vessel, any freight, to whom it belonged or about possible casualties.
In an advisory note, UKMTO stated it had actually been notified that local search and rescue authorities and union forces have actually been charged to help the vessel.
According to Refinitiv ship tracking, the Mercer Street, a medium-size tanker, was headed to Fujairah, a bunkering port and oil terminal in the United Arab Emirates, from Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania.
Tensions have actually increased in the Gulf area because the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear handle significant powers.
Washington has actually blamed Iran for a variety of attacks on shipping in tactical Gulf waters, consisting of on 4 vessels, consisting of 2 Saudi oil tankers, in May 2019. Iran distanced itself from those attacks.
In current months Iran and Israel have actually traded allegations of assaulting each other’s vessels.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington, Jonathan Saul and Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Alex Richardson, Alison Williams, Sonali Paul, Nick Macfie and Timothy Heritage)
