DUBAI, Aug 3 (Reuters) – A non-piracy incident is under way off the coast of the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Tuesday.
The UKMTO warning notice, based on a third party source, advised vessels to exercise extreme caution in the area, around 61 nautical miles east of the emirate of Fujairah.
UKTMO provided no details regarding the vessel or vessels involved.
However on Tuesday afternoon a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker in roughly the same position off Fujairah named Golden Brilliant updated its AIS tracking status to “Not Under Command”, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data.
This status indicates a ship is unable to manoeuvre due to exceptional circumstances.
Last week an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman killed two crew members and was blamed on Iran by the United States, Israel and Britain.
Bennett Says Israel Able to “Act Alone” against Iran over Ship Attack
Iran denied involvement in that suspected drone attack and said on Monday it would respond promptly to any threat against its security.
The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to last week’s attack on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.
Iran and Israel have exchanged accusations of carrying out attacks on each other’s vessels in recent months.
Tensions have increased in the Persian Gulf waters and between Iran and Israel since 2018, when then U.S. President Donald Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran‘s economy.
(Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Nick Macfie)
