Gulf of Oman: Suspected hijacked ship for hours without continuing

A ship may have been hijacked in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

The British Maritime Warning Center (UKMTO) initially issued a warning on Tuesday because of an "incident" about 60 nautical miles east of the Emirate of Fujairah.

All ships in the vicinity should be "extremely careful," it said.

Shortly afterwards, the UKMTO issued another warning of a “possible kidnapping”.

On Wednesday morning, according to the Marin Traffic website, the status of the 45-year-old tanker was "stopped". Accordingly, the ship has not covered a route for five hours. On Marin Traffic it could also be seen that no other cargo ship was en route within a larger radius. According to the site, it is the "Asphalt Princess", a tanker sailing under the Panamanian flag. On Tuesday evening it was said that the Omani Air Force was in action with sea reconnaissance planes in the area. On the website Flightradar24 it was seen in the evening that a reconnaissance plane was circling over the area. The Gulf of Oman lies between Oman and Iran. There was no official confirmation of the incident on Wednesday morning either. It was initially unclear who could be behind the alleged kidnapping.

The British Times reported, citing government sources, that a "force" of eight or nine armed men had taken control of the "Asphalt Princess". CNN also reported this. The government in London assumed that Iran or militias allied with it were responsible for the kidnapping. The British Foreign Office said on Tuesday evening that it is “urgently investigating an incident on a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates”.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the incident as "suspicious" and warned against again baseless allegations against Iran. "These continuous incidents for the ships in the Persian Gulf are extremely questionable and suspicious," said Foreign Office spokesman Said Chatibsadeh. Above all, the incidents should not be used as a pretext for the implementation of certain political goals in the region. The security of shipping in the Persian Gulf is extremely important for Iran and therefore Tehran is also ready to offer its assistance, the spokesman said, according to the Isna news agency.

Ships enter the Persian Gulf via the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. The route is considered to be one of the most important sea connections for international trade. The situation in the region is particularly tense for shipping. There had been repeated incidents there. Most recently, a British man and the Romanian captain were killed in a drone attack on the “Mercer Street” oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. Britain, Romania, Israel and the US blame Iran for the incident. Tehran rejected any involvement.

The background to the tensions in the Middle East, which have increased in recent years, is, among other things, the dispute over the international nuclear agreement with Iran. The US unilaterally terminated the agreement in May 2018. Since then, there have been several incidents and acts of sabotage against oil tankers and attacks on oil facilities in the Gulf. The latest incidents come just days before the inauguration of the new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.