DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – An explosion hit an Israeli-owned cargo ship leaving the Middle East on Friday, an unexplained explosion renewing concerns about the ship’s security amid escalating tensions between the US and the United States. Will.
The crew and the ship were safe, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations, managed by the British Navy. The explosion forced the ship to go to the nearest port.
The blast site, the Gulf of Oman, witnessed a series of explosions in 2019 that the U.S. Navy attributed to Iran in a context of growing threats between former President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders. Tehran has denied the accusations, which arose after Trump abandoned Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and imposed harsh sanctions on the country.
In the past few weeks, as the Joe Biden government seeks to reconnect with Iran, Tehran has escalated its violations of the nuclear deal to create influence over Washington. The deal saw Tehran agree to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting paralyzing sanctions.
Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence company, identified the affected vessel as the MV Helios Ray, a roll-on and roll-off vehicle cargo ship with the Bahamas flag. Another private security officer, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, similarly identified the ship as Helios Ray.
Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com showed that Helios Ray was about to enter the Arabian Sea at about 6am GMT on Friday before suddenly turning around and starting back towards the Strait of Hormuz. He even listed Singapore as a destination on his tracker.
Although the details of the explosion remained unclear, two American defense officials told the AP that the ship had two holes on the port side and two on starboard just above the water line in the explosion. Authorities said it was not clear what caused the holes. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss undisclosed information about the incidents.
A United Nations vessel database identified the ship’s owners as a Tel Aviv-based company called Ray Shipping Ltd. The calls to Ray Shipping were not answered on Friday.
Abraham Ungar, 74, known as “Rami”, is the founder of Ray Shipping Ltd. and is known as one of Israel’s richest men. He made a fortune in navigation and construction.
According to Nikola Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy, where Ungar provides maritime support and training, he owns dozens of car transport ships and employs thousands of engineers.
The US Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was “aware and monitoring” the situation.
Although the circumstances of the explosion remain unclear, Dryad Global said it is very possible that the explosion originated from “asymmetric activity by the Iranian military”.
While Iran seeks to pressure the United States to lift sanctions, the country may seek to “exercise vigorous diplomacy by military means,” said Dryad. Iran did not immediately recognize the incident.
The explosion on Friday recalled the summer of 2019, when the U.S. military blamed Iran for suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most strategic sea routes in the world. In the previous months, the United States attributed a series of suspicious attacks to Iran, including the use of limpet mines – designed to be magnetically coupled to a ship’s hull – to paralyze four tankers from the neighboring port of Fujairah in the Emirates.
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Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.