A car carrier has suffered an explosion in the Gulf of Oman, but all crew are reported to be uninjured.
Security company Dryad Global named the vessel as the 7,721-ceu Helios Ray (built 2015), which is owned by Ray Car Carriers of the Isle of Man.
The blast is reported to have occurred at 20:40 GMT on Thursday night, 44 nautical miles (81 km) north-west of Muscat, Oman.
The US navy said it was monitoring the situation, while US-backed International Maritime Security Construct said an investigation was ongoing and that its ships were monitoring the situation.
Ray Car Carriers has been contacted for comment, while Greek manager Stamco Ship Management told TradeWinds that it could not comment on Friday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued an alert on Friday, saying only that a ship had suffered a blast.
"Investigations are ongoing," UKMTO said. "Vessel and crew are safe. Vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise caution."
No details were given of a possible cause.
Returning to port?
The ship was en route from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Singapore. The ship has protection and indemnity cover from the West of England club.
Dryad said the vessel appears to be returning to port of origin.
The company added that while details remain unclear, it it still a realistic possibility that the event was the result of "asymmetric activity by Iranian military".
"Such activity would be commensurate with current tensions and Iranian intent to exercise forceful diplomacy through military means within its immediate area of interest," Dryad said.
Ray Car Carriers is reported to be Israeli-owned. Tensions between Israel and Iran remain fraught, especially in light of increased signs of rapprochement between Iran and the administration of US President Joe Biden, Dryad added.
Israel’s transportation ministry said it was not aware of the incident, while Iran has not commented.
Ambrey Intelligence said in a social media post that the ship could have been targeted due to its affiliation with Israel and the UK.
An LR1 product tanker owned by Hafnia suffered an explosion and fire at the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah in December last year.
While the attack on the 76,600-dwt BW Rhine (built 2008) was not blamed on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia described the incident as a “terrorist attack”.
The Hafnia blast was the third incident in little more than two months in which a tanker suffered an explosion in the region.
The Al Shuqaiq terminal in southern Saudi Arabia, near the Yemeni border, was the scene of an explosion on board the George Economou-controlled, 107,000-dwt tanker Agrari (built 2009) on 23 November last year.
In early October 2020, the Eastern Mediterranean Maritime-managed, 105,300-dwt aframax Syra (built 2010) was hit by a submersible explosive device while in Rudhum, Yemen.
