An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman, an official has told the Associated Press.
The attack happened on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, the Middle East-based defence official said. The official spoke on Wednesday on condition of anonymity as they did not have authorisation to discuss the attack publicly.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military organisation in the region monitoring shipping, told the AP: “We are aware of an incident and it’s being investigated at this time.”
The official identified the vessel attacked as the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon. That tanker is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.
In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been “hit by a projectile” some 150 miles (240 kilometres) off the coast of Oman.
“We are in communication with the vessel and there is no reports of injuries or pollution. All crew are safe and accounted for,” the company said. “There is some minor damage to the vessel’s hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress.”
A call to the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi was not answered. Israel’s prime minister’s office and its defence ministry declined to comment.
While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion has immediately fallen on Iran. Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war in the wider Middle East, with some drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels travelling around the region.
Timothy Hawkins, United States’ Naval 5th Fleet Commander, told Al Jazeera that the US’ biggest concern was “any destabilising maritime activity that takes place in the surrounding waters because they are vital to global trade”.
He said that the 5th Fleet’s next step would be to continue maintaining a persistent presence in the Gulf.
“[We will] work with our regional partners and our international partners in patrolling the nearby waters and also working with commercial shipping to ensure they have the information they need to continue transiting these waterways safely,” Hawkins said.
The US has blamed Iran for a series of attacks occurring off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in 2019. Tehran then had begun escalating its nuclear programme following the US’s unilateral withdrawal from its atomic deal with world powers. (Aljazeera)