Despite denial from the Iranians regarding the ship, multiple sources reported that forces from the Islamic Republic likely hijacked a ship near the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Several ships lost communications in the region on Tuesday.
Tuesday – East of the Port of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, reports surfaced of a potential hijacking of a maritime vessel, reportedly by Iranian forces. According to at least one report, a minimum of three sources insisted that there was Iranian involvement, despite denial from the Islamic Republic.
The ship of interest is the Asphalt Princess, which was reportedly boarded by nearly 10 armed gunmen prior to its departure from the scheduled route.
One of the initial sources, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), originally reported an issue in the Gulf on Tuesday that it referred to as an “incident – non-piracy”, but would later update its report to “incident upgraded to potential hijack”.
Adding to the chaos in the Gulf on Tuesday, a minimum of six vessels lost control of their steering in the area, with speculation that Iranian naval mines were involved.
The incident occurred on the heels of an Iranian suicide drone attack just days ago on an Israeli-owned trip, which resulted in the deaths of two crew members. Several countries have condemned Iran for this attack and are now vowing a joint-military response.
