Drone strikes Israeli-linked tanker off Oman, officials say
NO INJURIES REPORTED; IRAN FREES TWO GREEK TANKERS SEIZED IN MAY
An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bombcarrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said yesterday.
The drone attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon happened Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, one Mideast-based defence official told the Associated Press. The official was not authorised to discuss the attack publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pacific Zircon is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.
In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been “hit by a projectile’’ some 150 miles (240 kilometres) off the coast of Oman.
“We are in communication with the vessel and there is no reports of injuries or pollution. All crew are safe and accounted for,” the company said. “There is some minor damage to the vessel’s hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress.’’
An Israeli official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss unpublicised details of the attack, said that it appeared Iran carried out the attack with a Shahed-136 exploding drone. Iran has supplied those drones to Russia, which has been using them to target infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine.
The strike came hours after the US Navy announced it found 70 tonnes of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertiliser aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran, a major seizure potentially disrupting the Iranian-backed Houthis’ ballistic missile programme there.
Sailors freed
Meanwhile, Greek officials said two of Greek oil tankers — Delta Poseidon and Prudent Warrior — had been freed, along with their sailors.
Tracking data from MarineTraffic.com showed the vessels sailing away from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas where they had been held since May after being seized in a helicopter-born raid by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Their seizure came after Greece assisted the United States in seizing oil days earlier from the Iranian-flagged tanker Lana.
“Today is a very pleasant day for our sailors, but also for Greece in general, since an unpleasant and particularly complex case came to an end, following systematic efforts by the Greek government,” Greek Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis said in a statement.
The strike came hours after the US Navy announced it found 70 tonnes of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertiliser aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran.