A “projectile” has hit a tanker carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman, the Israeli-owned shipping company that operates the vessel said.
The Pacific Zircon was “hit by a projectile approximately 150 miles off the coast of Oman … on 15 November,” Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of casualties or any leakage of the cargo.
“There is some minor damage to the vessel’s hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress,” said the company which is owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer — one of two sons of shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011
The Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet said it was “aware of the incident”.
UK Maritime Trade Operations, a British monitor, also said it knew of the incident.
It was not immediately clear who launched the projectile.
Heightened tensions between arch foes Washington and Tehran in recent years have involved attacks on tankers in Gulf waters that are vital to world fuel supplies.
The area has also seen naval incidents between the two countries, including in August, when Washington said it prevented an Iranian ship from capturing a US maritime drone in the Gulf.
Iran and world powers have engaged in on-off talks to revive a landmark 2015 deal that sought to curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a motion to the UN nuclear watchdog censuring Iran for lack of cooperation with the agency, diplomats told AFP this week.
“The risk of attacks against shipping and energy infrastructure in the wider region is rising mainly due to the lack of progress in US-Iranian nuclear diplomacy,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, Middle East analyst with the Verisk Maplecroft risk intelligence company.
A decision by Washington to apply further sanctions pressure on Tehran has exacerbated the risk of further attacks, Soltvedt said.
Iran has been rocked by two months of mass protests — the biggest in years — following the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by Iran’s notorious morality police for an alleged breach of its strict dress code for women.
“Ongoing mass protests against the Iranian government also make it more likely that Tehran will seek to stoke unrest in the broader region as a diversionary tactic,” Soltvedt said.
