Dubai: A group of armed men had hijacked a Panama-flagged ship owned by a Dubai-based company, MV Asphalt Princess in the Gulf of Oman and ordered it to sail to Iran. The ship was hijacked while it was nearing to the Strait of Hormuz. As per latest reports, the hijackers had left the ship free.
‘Boarders have left the vessel. Vessel is safe. Incident complete,’ United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations tweeted.
As per reports, around nine armed men boarded the MV Asphalt Princess as it neared the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and took the control of the ship. A fifth of the world’s maritime oil supplies passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Two years ago, the Revolutionary Guards of Iran had hijacked a ship owned by the same company.
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As per defence analysts, the ship was hijacked by Iranian forces. But the Revolutionary Guards in Iran has dismissed the reports as a pretext for ‘hostile action’ against Iran.
Earlier a week ago, an oil tanker owned by Israeli company was attacked using a drone. In the attack, two crew members, one British and the other Romanian, were killed. The US, UK and Israel accused that Iran was behind the attack.
WARNING 001/AUG/2021 Update 002
Category: Incident – Potential Hijack – Non Piracy
Description: Boarders have left the vessel. Vessel is safe. Incident completehttps://t.co/toURu6jSzg#MaritimeSecurity #marsec pic.twitter.com/IvC44GOiic
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) August 4, 2021
Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) advised shipping companies to exercise extreme caution while passing through the area.
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