The ship, which heads from Iraq to Turkey, was once at the center of a crisis between Iran and the United States.
Armed men wearing military uniforms and black masks boarded an oil tanker near Oman, British maritime security and UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) authorities said.
In the latest in a series of shipping accidents in the region, around 4 to 5 people were aboard the Marshall Islands-registered ship St. Nicholas, about 50 nautical miles east of Sohar, Oman, at around 7:30 a.m. Thursday (3:30 p.m. Japan time). A man got on board. The vessel then headed for Bandar-e-Jask in Iran, according to coast guard company Ambry.
TankerTrackers.com, which tracks and reports on global oil shipments, identified the ship as the St. Nicholas and said it was carrying “Iraqi oil.” The tanker, previously named Suez Rajan, had been seized by the U.S. government for transporting sanctioned Iranian oil, the paper said.
Ambry also said the recently renamed tanker had previously been charged, fined and seized by U.S. authorities for transporting sanctioned Iranian crude oil. The year-long conflict ended with the U.S. Department of Justice seizing 1 million barrels of Iranian oil.
“Iran has previously taken action against people it accuses of collaborating with the United States,” it added.
The British military’s UKTMO, which is warning seafarers in the Middle East, said the incident began in waters between Oman and Iran following a report from the ship’s security manager who said he heard an “unknown voice on the phone” next to the captain. He announced that he had received it. .
Ambry said the men hid surveillance cameras as they boarded the ship. It added that tracking devices were switched off as the tanker appeared to veer towards Bandar-e-Jask.
The St. Nicholas was sailing from the Iraqi port of Basra to Turkey, according to tracking website Marine Traffic.
The Gulf of Oman, a key route for the oil industry that separates Oman from Iran, has been the site of a series of hijackings and attacks over the years, many of which have been linked to Iran.
Empire Navigation, the Greek shipping company that operates the ship, confirmed it had lost contact with the ship. The ship had a crew of 18 Filipinos and one Greek.
The company also announced that the ship was transporting 145,000 tons of oil from Basra to Aliaga, Turkey.
Weeks of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have put shipping companies in the region on high alert.
The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea to show support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel’s war on Gaza. These incidents were concentrated in the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula.
Thursday’s incident occurred near the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling on the Iran-aligned Houthis to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea and release the Japanese-controlled Galactic Leader, which was captured last year.
