The British Navy has issued an alert about a possible ship hijacking in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, as tensions in the region increase as the West pushes Iran to re-enter into a nuclear deal, the Associated Press reports.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations issued an alert Tuesday about “an incident is currently underway” in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the Emirati city of Fujairah. Hours later, the UKMTO updated the notice to be a “potential hijacking.”
Details of the incident are still unclear, but independent maritime intelligence organizations identified the ship as the Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess.
Also on Tuesday, six ships used their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were “not under command,” meaning that they had lost their power and/or steering capabilities. Later, one of the ships regained power and was tracked moving through the Gulf.
“At the same time, if they are in the same vicinity and in the same place, then very rarely that happens,” said Ranjith Raja, an oil and shipping expert with data firm Refintiv. “Not all the vessels would lose their engines or their capability to steer at the same time.”