London:
Two crew members of an oil tanker managed by a firm owned by a prominent Israeli businessman had been killed in an attack off Oman, the vessel’s London-based operator stated Friday.
Analysts stated the attack bore all the hallmarks of tit-for-tat exchanges in the “shadow war” in between Israel and Iran, in which vessels linked to each and every nation have been targeted in waters about the Gulf.
Zodiac Maritime, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, stated the incident on board the MT Mercer Street on Thursday left one Romanian and a UK national dead.
“We are not aware of harm to any other personnel,” it stated in a statement, adding that the Japanese-owned tanker was back below the manage of its crew, and was steaming to an undisclosed “safe location” below US naval escort.
The British victim worked as a guard for UK maritime safety firm Ambrey, the firm stated.
In Israel, the workplace of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and spokespeople for Defence Minister Benny Gantz and the Israeli army, declined to comment on the attack.
‘Probably Iran’
Meir Javedanfar, an specialist on Iranian diplomacy and safety at Israel’s IDC Herzliya university, told AFP the attack was “most probably Iran”.
Exact particulars of how the attack occurred have but to be confirmed.
Javedanfar stated Iranians “feel badly disadvantaged when it comes to responding to attacks inside Iran which have been associated to Israel”, such as an April strike on the Natanz uranium enrichment website reportedly executed by Israel.
An attack on a maritime vessel “is one area where (Iranians) feel they can try to at least retaliate,” he added, calling the most recent strike an escalation in the “shadow war” in between the two Middle Eastern powerhouses.
But he assessed the basic dynamics of the rivalry would alter small. “Both sides will continue what they’re doing,” he stated.
Zodiac Maritime is aspect of the Zodiac Group, owned by billionaire Ofer, whose enterprises span shipping, true estate, technologies, banking and investments.
Ofer was ranked the world’s 197th richest particular person by Forbes this year, with a fortune of $11.3 billion. His firms personal and operate more than 160 ships.
The Arabian Sea and surrounding Indian Ocean had been plagued by piracy about a decade ago, but incidents have waned in current years just after foreign navies stepped up patrols.
‘Significant escalation’
Zodiac initially referred to as the attack on MT Mercer Street “a suspected piracy incident”.
The vessel was in the northern Indian Ocean, travelling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard when the attack occurred, it added.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) — an anti-piracy taskforce run by the Royal Navy — also issued a report of “a vessel being attacked” about 152 nautical miles (280 kilometres) off the coast of Oman.
It classed the incident as “non-piracy”.
Maritime market analysts Dryad Global stated the attack was comparable to prior incidents against vessels related with Israel and Iran.
Two ships operated by Israeli firm Ray Shipping had been attacked earlier this year.
“The attack on the MT Mercer Street is now assessed to be the fifth attack against a vessel connected to Israel,” Dryad stated in an e mail note on the incident.
But it stated just before the deaths had been confirmed that the loss of two personnel “would represent a significant escalation in events that… would likely lead to significant international condemnation and would require diplomatic redress”.
It advised clientele that the threat to industrial vessels related with Israel and Iran in the Gulf waterway was “heightened”, pointing to lingering tensions in between the two powers more than Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Such incidents remain irregular and are highly unlikely to impact normal commercial operations throughout the region,” it added.
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