DUBAI (Reuters) – Shots were fired at a tanker in sensitive Gulf waters on Wednesday but the vessel and crew are safe, a British maritime security body said, the latest incident in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf since 2019.
The vessel was located off the coast of the Omani capital Muscat when the shots were fired on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), part of the Royal Navy, said in a report of a suspicious approach.
Maritime security company Ambrey said the ship was a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, which was Greek-owned and U.S.-managed.
Refintiv ship tacking data shows the Richmond Voyager, a very large crude carrier managed by Chevron, matching the position and description providd by UKMTO and Ambrey.
The vessel, which was heading from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore, increased speed and changed course in response to the incident, Ambrey said citing its own research.
Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.
Iran seized two oil tankers in a week just over a month ago, the U.S. Navy said.
About a fifth of the world’s supply of crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Jonathan Saul; Editing by Peter Graff)
