On Thursday morning, “unlicensed armed men” wearing military uniforms and masks boarded an oil tanker off the coast of Oman.
The situation remains unclear but suspicions fell immediately IranThe ship was once involved in a dispute with the US Department of Justice that led to the confiscation of one million barrels of Iranian crude oil.
UK Trade Maritime Operations (UKTMO), which provides warnings to seafarers in the Middle East, said the incident began early in the morning 50 miles off the UK coast. Sultanate of Oman.
UKTMO described receiving a report from the ship's security director of hearing “unidentified voices on the phone” alongside the ship's captain.
She added that she was unable to establish further communications with the ship and that the authorities were investigating the incident.
This development comes amid severe tensions in the nearby Red Sea, where Houthi attacks based in Yemen They stop charging.
Read more:
An oil tanker was “struck by a drone” off the coast of Oman
Who are the Houthis and why do they attack ships in the Red Sea?
Private intelligence firm Embry said “four to five armed men” boarded the ship, which it said was the oil tanker St. Nicholas. She said the men covered surveillance cameras as they ascended.
The incident began early Wednesday morning in the waters between Oman and Iran, in an area where ships coming and going from the Strait of Hormuz pass.
A large proportion of global oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the fact that in recent years the waters surrounding the strait have witnessed a series of ship seizures by Iran since the collapse of the country's nuclear deal.
Iran and Oman did not immediately acknowledge the plane's boarding.
St. Nicholas had previously been called the “Swiss Rajan”, linked to the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation
The Athens-based company acknowledged in a statement that it had lost contact with the ship, which includes a crew of 18 Filipinos and one Greek citizen. The company did not provide details.
The ship came into the spotlight in February 2022 when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker was carrying oil from Iran's Kharg Island.
The ship remained for several months in the South China Sea off the northeastern coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing to the Texas coast without explanation. The ship unloaded its cargo to another tanker in August, which released its oil in Houston as part of a Justice Department order.
In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil, and agreed to pay a $2.4m (£1.9m) fine in a case involving the tanker.
