The Associated Press reported that an oil tanker was struck by a suspected drone off the coast of Oman Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The US news agency, quoting a senior military official, said that the drone then exploded.
The media reported that experts familiar with the incident indicated that the drone was Iranian. No one was injured in the accident.
Commander Timothy Hawkins told Reuters news agency that the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said it was aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman involving a merchant vessel. UK Maritime Trade Operations, a UK watchdog, said it had learned of the incident.
The Liberian-flagged tanker is a vessel belonging to Eastern Pacific Shipping, the Singapore-based shipping company owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.
Eastern Pacific Shipping Company said in a statement that the Pacific Zircon tanker was “hit by a missile approximately 150 miles off the coast of Oman … on November 15.”
The Gulf of Oman is one of the most important shipping routes for the world’s oil supplies.
los/sms (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)
