Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

UK says there has been a ‘potential hijack’ of a ship off the UAE coast

The warning comes days after an attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman left a British citizen dead

Ella Glover
Tuesday 03 August 2021 19:45 BST
Comments
Last week, a drone attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman left a British citizen dead
Last week, a drone attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman left a British citizen dead (AFP/Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Britain’s maritime trade agency reported a “potential hijack” was under way off the coast of the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah region, without giving details on the vessel or vessels involved.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation had warned ships earlier on Tuesday that “an incident” was taking place.

It had also advised vessels in the area of Fujairah to exercise caution, based on a third-party source.

The UK foreign office said it was urgently investigating the incident.

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon at least five ships in the sea between the UAE and Iran updated their AIS tracking status to “Not Under Command”, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data. Such a status generally indicates a ship is unable to manoeuvre due to exceptional circumstances.

It was not clear whether this had any connection to the reported incident.

The area in the Arabian Sea leads to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil exports flow.

This comes after a drone attack last week on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman left a British citizen dead.

Britain, the US and Israel have blamed Tehran for the attack.

The UK’s Foreign Office has said that it believes the strike on the oil tanker was “deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law by Iran”.

The UK’s minister for digital infrastructure, Matt Warman, said on Monday that “all the evidence that we see points to the fact that it was Iranian action”.

The Iranian government has denied responsibility, but the British government warned Tehran that it was working with allies “on a concerted response to this unacceptable attack”.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in