JEDDAH/FUJAIRAH: Oman provided first official confirmation on Wednesday that the Asphalt Princess tanker was involved in a hijacking in the Arabian Sea after Britain鈥檚 maritime trade agency earlier reported the incident was over.
Oman鈥檚 Maritime Security Centre said on Twitter that it had received information about the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess being subjected 鈥渢o a hijacking incident in international waters in the Gulf of Oman鈥� and that the sultanate鈥檚 navy had deployed several ships to help secure international waters.

The British navy said the hijackers who boarded a vessel off the coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman have left the targeted ship, without elaborating.
The notice on Wednesday came after the British military鈥檚 United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations warned of a 鈥減otential hijack鈥� under unclear circumstances underway the night before.
The group reported that the 鈥渋ncident (is) complete.鈥� It did not provide further details.

The Panama-flagged asphalt/bitumen tanker Asphalt Princess was earlier reportedly seized 60 nautical miles off Fujairah on the UAE鈥檚 east coast, in an area of the sea leading to the Strait of Hormuz.

British security sources said they were 鈥渨orking on the assumption Iranian military or proxies boarded the vessel.鈥�

The British military鈥檚 UK Maritime Trade Operations initially warned ships on Tuesday that 鈥渁n incident is currently underway鈥� off the coast of Fujairah. Hours later, they said the incident was a 鈥減otential hijack.鈥�

On Tuesday afternoon at least five ships in the sea between the UAE and Iran updated their automatic tracking status to 鈥淣ot Under Command,鈥� a status that usually indicates a vessel is unable to maneuver because of exceptional circumstances.

Iran鈥檚 foreign ministry said reports of security incidents involving several ships near the UAE coast were 鈥渟uspicious,鈥� and it warned of any effort to create a 鈥渇alse atmosphere鈥� against Iran.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday that Iran was acting in a negative manner around the Middle East, endangering shipping, arming the Houthi militia in Yemen and contributing to Lebanon鈥檚 political deadlock.

鈥淎ll around the region, Iran continues to be emboldened,鈥� he said. 鈥淚ran is extremely active in the region with its negative activity.鈥�

Tensions have soared in the Gulf since an attack last week by explosives-laden Iranian drones on the MT Mercer Street off the coast of Oman, in which the tanker鈥檚 Romanian captain and a British security guard were killed.

The vessel is operated by an Israeli company, and Israel, the UK and the US said there would be a 鈥渃ollective response鈥� to the attack.

There have been a series of explosions and hijackings in the waters off Fujairah since 2019. The US Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.

Also in 2019, Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz as it headed to Dubai from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The raid came after authorities in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, seized an Iranian supertanker carrying $130 million in crude oil on suspicion it was breaking EU sanctions by taking the oil to Syria. Both vessels were later released.

In July last year, an oil tanker sought by the US for circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the UAE coast. The vessel and its crew ended up in Iran.