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Gulf of Oman: British Navy gives the all

2021-08-04T06:28:14.239Z


A worldwide safety warning for merchant shipping was issued on Tuesday evening because of a suspected hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Oman. The British Navy has now announced that the "Asphalt Princess" is safe.


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Patrol boat off the coast of the United Arab Emirates: Tense security situation

Photo: Jon Gambrell / AP

The alleged hijacking of an asphalt tanker in the Gulf of Oman has apparently ended.

As the British Navy announced, the "incident" was now "closed".

The armed forces initially did not provide any further details.

The British Maritime Warning Center (UKMTO) first issued a warning on Tuesday about an "incident" about 60 nautical miles east of the Emirate of Fujairah.

All nearby ships should be "extremely careful," it said.

Shortly thereafter, the UKMTO issued another warning of a "possible kidnapping".

Now the UKMTO announced via Twitter that the »boarding crew« had left the ship.

"The ship is safe," it said.

As the news agency AP reported, citing experts, the allegedly hijacked ship was the "Asphalt Princess", an asphalt tanker sailing under the Panamanian flag.

The British "Times" reported on Tuesday, citing government sources, that a "force" of eight or nine armed men had brought the "Asphalt Princess" under their control.

The government in London assumes that Iran or militias allied with the country are responsible for the kidnapping.

Iran immediately rejected this.

According to the AP, neither the British nor the US military wanted to provide further details on the incident.

So far, there has also been no comment from the owner of the ship.

Ships enter the Persian Gulf via the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.

The route is considered to be one of the most important sea connections for international trade.

The situation in the region is tense; merchant ships have been attacked there again and again.

A British man and the Romanian captain were recently killed in a drone attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

Britain, Romania, Israel and the US blame Iran for the incident.

fek / AP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-08-04

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