A Panama-flagged ship has been hijacked by armed men in the Gulf of Oman and ordered to sail to Iran, Lloyds List Maritime Intelligence has confirmed. The bitumen tanker MV Asphalt Princess is heading into the congested approach to the Strait of Hormuz, it said.
It is not clear who has seized the ship but analysts say Iranian forces will be suspected. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards dismissed the reports as a pretext for “hostile action” against Tehran.
The incident comes less than a week after an oil tanker operated by an Israeli-owned company was attacked by a drone off Oman, killing two security guards – one British and the other Romanian. The US, UK and Israel blamed Iran for the attack – a claim it strongly denies.
BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner says the MV Asphalt Princess is owned by a Dubai-based company that had one of its ships hijacked two years ago by revolutionary guards.
He says that, according to reports, up to nine armed men boarded the MV Asphalt Princess as it neared the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s maritime oil supplies passes.
