Boarders of a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah region in the Gulf of Oman have gone, according to a British maritime agency, and an incident that was previously seen as a “possible hijack” has ended.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) claimed on Twitter that the vessel was “safe” and that the “event” was “completed,” but gave no further details.
The UKMTO issued a warning notice on Tuesday, citing a third-party source, advising ships to exercise extreme caution owing to an incident 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres) east of Fujairah.
The vessel involved in the incident was identified as the Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess by both shipping authority Lloyd’s List and marine intelligence service Dryad Global. The vessel’s owner, Glory International, based in the Emirati free zone, could not be reached for comment as of late Tuesday.
Three maritime security sources told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that the ship was taken by Iranian-backed forces.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as calling the recent marine attacks in the region “absolutely dubious” in response to the incident. Iran was not involved, he said.
“In the region, Iran’s naval forces are ready to assist and rescue,” Khatibzadeh stated.
According to a representative for the UK Foreign Office, the incident on a vessel off the coast of the UAE is being investigated “urgently.”
