4 ships in Gulf of Oman reported to have lost control
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — At least four ships off the
coast of the United Arab Emirates broadcast warnings Tuesday that they had lost
control of their steering under unclear circumstances as authorities reported
“an incident” was underway in the area.
It wasn’t immediately clear what was happening off the coast
of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.
The vessels — oil tankers called Queen Ematha, the Golden
Brilliant, Jag Pooja and Abyss — announced around the same time via their
Automatic Identification System trackers that they were “not under command,”
according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power
and can no longer steer.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade
Operations only warned ships that “an incident is currently underway.” An Oman
Royal Air Force Airbus C-295MPA, a maritime patrol aircraft, was flying over
the area where the ships were, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.
The US military’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British
Defense Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment. The Emirati
government did not immediately acknowledge the incident.
The event comes just days after a drone struck an oil tanker
linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman, killing two crew
members. The West blamed Iran for the attack, which marked the first known
assault to have killed civilians in the yearslong shadow war targeting
commercial vessels in the region.
Iran denied playing any role in the incident, though Tehran
and its allied militias have used similar “suicide” drones in attacks
previously.
Israel, the United States and United Kingdom vowed a
“collective response” to the attack, without elaborating.
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