“Hijacking” of Panama-flagged ship ends

 AFP- An incident onboard a Panama-flagged ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates , considered a “possible hijacking,” concluded without damage, the British maritime security agency UKMTO announced on Wednesday, August 4, six days after an  attack on a tanker in the Gulf.

The people who had come on board “have left the ship”, which is “safe”, and “the incident is over,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the agency had reported a “possible kidnapping” about 60 nautical miles (about 110 km) from the emirate of Fujairah, a member of the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf oil country.

The agency advised ships passing through the area to exercise “extreme caution,” and the White House described the situation as “very worrying.”

This Wednesday, an Omani maritime security source confirmed having received information according to which the ship was involved “in an incident of kidnappings in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.”

“The air force of the sultanate flies over the area of ​​the incident, where navy ships were also sent to help ensure the security of international waters in the region,” added the same source, cited in a statement from the Ministry of Defense of Oman.

The Panama-flagged ship, “Asphalt Princess”, was heading to Sohar – a port in the Sultanate of Oman (north) – transporting asphalt and bitumen, according to the website MarineTrafficz.

The industry benchmark Lloyd’s List magazine‘s website said Tuesday that the ship was heading to Iran under the control of gunmen.

The incident, which occurred not far from the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world’s oil passes, follows the July 29 attack on an oil tanker belonging to the company of an Israeli billionaire, Eyal Ofer, in which two people died, a British and a Romanian.

The tanker, attacked by “explosive drones” according to Washington, anchored off Fujairah on Tuesday.

Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Romania accuse Iran of carrying out the attack, but Tehran denies it and warned that it will retaliate against any “adventurism” following threats of retaliation.