An oil tanker that carried the flag of the Marshall Islands and was on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore suddenly deviated from its course this morning (Friday). A US official confirmed to the Associated Press later: Iran hijacked the tanker.
Earlier, the British maritime security company Embry reported that the tanker encountered three small vessels and that it was making its way towards Iran, in an “action that appears to be deliberate”.
Embry said the tanker, which reported being 22 nautical miles east of the UAE port of Hawar Pekan, approached three small boats as it sailed south through the Strait of Hormuz. She later changed course in the Gulf of Oman.
Britain’s Naval Operations Center, which first reported the incident as a “suspicious incident”, said it received an alert about an incident 20 nautical miles east of Hawar Pekan.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
First published on N12
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