The merchant ship "Helios Rai" was exposed while sailing in the Sea of Oman to explosions, the source of which has not yet been determined, but the Israeli authorities accuse Tehran of being responsible for them.
According to the French newspaper Libération, several photos of the accident showed holes in the hull of the ship, above the waterline.
According to its owner, Israeli businessman Rami Ongar, the explosion left "two holes with a diameter of approximately 1.5 meters," adding that "it has not been confirmed yet if this was caused by launching rockets or mines attached to the ship," which means excluding the hypothesis of an accident, given the type of damage.
Although Iran today officially denied its involvement in this incident, Liberation stated that the premise of the deliberate attack arouses the enthusiasm of the most extreme parties in the Iranian political scene. The Helios Ray "probably fell into the trap of one of the branches of the resistance axis," but Kayhan went so far as to confirm that "the spy ship was gathering intelligence about the Gulf when it was targeted."
Liberation said that the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz had not witnessed such an accident for nearly 18 months, noting that the Israeli ship that was targeted last Friday is flying the Bahamas flag, but it is owned by the Israeli company Helios Ltd.
She added that its crew is fine and in good health, yet this merchant ship that left Dammam, Saudi Arabia, last Wednesday, bound for Singapore, was forced to return to dock in Dubai, UAE.