Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. REUTERS
According to a British maritime security organization, gunfire was directed at a tanker in volatile Gulf waters on Wednesday. However, the ship and its crew remained unharmed. This event marks the latest occurrence in a series of ship seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf since 2019.
The vessel was located off the coast of the Omani capital Muscat when the shots were fired on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), part of the Royal Navy, said in a report of a suspicious approach.
Maritime security company Ambrey said the ship was a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, which was Greek-owned and US-managed.
Refintiv ship tacking data shows the Richmond Voyager, a very large crude carrier managed by Chevron, matching the position and description provided by UKMTO and Ambrey.
The vessel, which was heading from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore, increased speed and changed course in response to the incident, Ambrey said citing its own research.
Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.
Iran seized two oil tankers in a week just over a month ago, the US Navy said.
About a fifth of the world’s supply of crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.