Israeli-managed tanker attacked, 2 killed
Mercer Street oil tanker, linked to an Israeli billionaire Ofer family, was attacked when the vessel was in the waters of the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Oman, close to the Duqm port, Zodiac Maritime ship management company announced on Friday.
Two crew members, reportedly from the United Kingdom and Romania, were killed in the assault. The 50,000 dwt tanker was Japanese-owned and ran under the Liberian flag. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that the investigations are ongoing and that it does not believe the incident is piracy-related.
"At the time of the incident, the vessel was in the northern Indian Ocean, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard," Zodiac Maritime said in a statement. The attack occurred amidst elevated tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear deal.