Dubai, United Arab Emirates: An oil tanker once at the center of a crisis between Iran and the United States was boarded in the Gulf of Oman by "unauthorized” people in military uniforms early on Thursday morning, an advisory group run by the British military and a private intelligence firm warned.
Details remained unclear in what was apparently the latest seizure of a vessel in the tense Middle East waterways.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, said the incident began early in the morning in waters between Oman and Iran in an area transited by ships coming in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.
The UK military-run group described receiving a report from the ship's security manager of hearing "unknown voices over the phone” alongside with the ship's captain. It said that further efforts to contact the ship had failed.
The private intelligence firm Ambrey said that "six military men” boarded the ship, which it identified as the oil tanker St. Nikolas. It said that the men had covered the surveillance cameras as they boarded.
